When the War is Over
by harrypotterfangirl2010
Summary: RL/GW pairing. Don't know how I came up with it. Somewhat AU, set after DH. Lupin's returned to his DADA position. Warning, student/teacher relationship. And obviously, I don't own anything.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_1998 – first term_

Ginerva 'Ginny' Weasley's eyes went wide when she tramped into her first Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson to see her second-year Professor Remus Lupin sitting at the desk. In the great tradition of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft, the position had been filled by someone new every year since she had started; Lupin was the only repeat she'd known, and she wondered if now that both Dumbledore and Voldermort were dead, this meant the curse that meant the position couldn't be filled for more than a year by the same person was broken.

"Remus!" she said, happy to see at least _one_ familiar face return after so many deaths at the Battle of Hogwarts a few months ago – a battle in which his own wife of barely a year had died. She hurried walked over to perch herself on the edge of the desk as had become her habit in the last four years. Lupin had been pretty relaxed about having her in close proximity once he had ceased to be her professor and instead had simply been a friend of her parents.

With a flick of his wand, he stopped her dead in his tracks. "I suggest you don't do that," he said mildly. "It was made pretty clear to me that I'm not to show you or Luna any favouritism."

She backed off, feeling embarrassed for not thinking of such an obvious thing. "Sorry," she said contritely.

"It's no biggie. But I will have to punish you if you're too familiar, and since I owe your mum Teddy's life, I'd rather not do that."

"Pardon?" Ginny asked. It was only then that she noticed his three-year-old son in his stroller a few meters from Lupin's desk.

"Bellatrix would never have tolerated a Black being – whatever he is," Lupin said, referring to his own werewolf status. Because werewolves tended not to breed, no-one could tell for certain exactly what Teddy was, although so far he appeared to be human. But as far as Teddy's great-aunt, the evil, crazy and bigoted Bellatrix was concerned, Lupin was right, she would never have tolerated Teddy's questionable status. "She would have come after him until she'd killed him – or been killed herself," he said softly, shuddering at the thought. He had never wanted to be a father, had pleaded with Tonks to have an abortion when they'd found out, but now he wouldn't give his son up for the world. "You weren't the only child your mother saved that day," he said, referring to the way Ginny's mother Molly had attacked Bellatrix with a frenzied maternal instinct that would have done Lily Potter proud. "I owe her my son's life and as such, I would rather not punish her daughter if I can help it. But I will do it if you force me to, Ginny, so please don't be too familiar."

She nodded. "Thanks for letting me know upfront," she said. "I'll let Luna know, too."

"I'd appreciate that." Luna Lovegood had a somewhat spotty record when it came to appropriate behaviour, and she was more likely than Ginny to struggle with the fact that the paternalistic/filial affection he'd shared in times previous with them was now off-limits; it couldn't be any worse coming from Ginny. "To be honest, I'm surprised you're back."

"Where else would I be? Beauxbatons?" she asked.

"A lot of parents are doing precisely that, yes, or Durmstrang, or having their children privately tutored. It will take years before this place gets back to the population it had two years ago. People just don't want to send their kids to a school where there was a massacre."

"Really? My parents and Luna's dad said it was their duty to do just that."

Lupin smiled dryly at that. "Yes, there are, thankfully, plenty of parents who believe as yours do. Hopefully I can help restore Hogwarts to what it used to be. I don't want to send Teddy outside of England."

"I'm sure you will. And hell, now we won't have to deal with so much of that crap about pure-bloods and half-breeds. Is it true that Umbridge got carted off to Azkaban?"

"I visited her myself to make sure," he said, his eyes glinting maliciously. Delores Umbridge had caused him not end of headaches with her idea about half-breeds – who were apparently intelligent enough to contribute to society in the form of menial labour, but not enough to be granted the same privileges as full-humans, let alone full-_bloods_. "Almost took Teddy, just to shit her, except Andromeda would have had my head for it and I can't say I'd have blamed her. It's no place for a child."

"Do you keep in touch with her?" she asked, referring to his mother-in-law.

"Only for Teddy," he admitted. "She never approved of our marriage but she makes nice because she knows if she doesn't, her access gets cut off. Actually, it might work out well. I don't have anyone else with Harry travelling and at the full moon, it'll be good to know there's someone I can send him to and know he's safe. And honestly? She hasn't treated me the best in the past, but she's lost so much, and I don't want to deny her Teddy if I can help it."

"You're more gracious than I would be," she added with a strong flavour of bitterness in her voice.

"Yeah, I heard about Harry," Lupin said dryly. "For what it's worth, I think seventeen's too young to settle down."

"No, it's too _old_ to wait for someone you _claim_ to be crazy about," she countered.

"Heard about that, too," he admitted. "Harry confides a lot in me, you know. I guess I'm a kind of quasi-uncle to him now as much as he is to Teddy. And it was a lousy thing to do, Ginny, but it's not the end of the world."

"He _cheated_ on me! He – "

"We'll talk about this later," Lupin said quickly when the door opened. Grateful for his discretion, Ginny found herself a seat close to the front as students trickled in, many of them delighted to see Lupin again.

She had forgotten just how good Lupin was as a DADA teacher, both highly informed and gifted at instilling that information as well as sensitive to the individual needs of each student. He seemed to genuinely enjoy bringing each student out, and she couldn't help but wonder if part of that was his own unhappy childhood, mostly hidden from a society that was afraid of him. In the last three years they'd had Amycus Carrow, a particularly nasty Death Eater who had changed it to simple the Dark Arts, and before that they'd had Severus Snape, who, while brilliant, was also vengeful with more than a little malice in him. And before _that_ had been Dolores Umbridge, a sadist with a thin veneer of civility who had refused to teach them anything practical. Barty Crouch, Junior, posing as Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, hadn't actually been too bad, although they'd all been left feeling rather creeped out to learn who had _actually_ been teaching them. And before him had been Lupin again, who many had believed had been the best DADA teacher in living memory.

But Lupin had been forced to resign after his werewolf status had been discovered. Well, at least now he could be open about it; Kingsley Shaklebolt himself had said that anyone who had a problem with it could send their children somewhere else, now was _not_ the time to start judging people based on their breed or blood status. And it seemed most of the people who weren't already sending their children to other schools or keeping them at home agreed with him. Besides, everyone knew how valiantly Lupin had fought in the recent war, and how he had continued to fight after watching his wife be murdered by her own aunt.

The lesson finished and Lupin dismissed them all; they were mostly reluctant to go, everyone remembering the bad run of DADA professors they'd had. "Miss Weasley, could you stay back, please?" he asked. Ginny stayed. "Look, I'm sorry if I was short with you before."

"It's OK. I'm grateful. I didn't want anyone overhearing about me and Harry."

"Look, I can't show you any favouritism – and believe me, McGonagall will have her eye on me – but I can be a friend, if you'd like. Or a kind of brother. Actually, I think I'd be more like a father-figure, since I'm the same age as James was and Harry's older than you. Sorry," he added when she made a face.

"It's OK. And I'd like that. I can't talk to my dad... or my brother's. Things are too raw for us all and I don't want to burden them by banging on about my boyfriend."

He waved his wand and a chair dragged itself across the chair to his desk. Without needing to be told, she sat down. "He was _so popular_ after the battle – he was, like, the greatest celebrity _ever_. He was bigger than Viktor Krum. And he was really keen to do it and I wanted to wait and there were all these girls who considered it, like, the greatest thing ever to sleep with Harry Potter." She spat his name out and a person could be forgiven for thinking she had detested him all her life. "He was with Cho Chang – he's always had the hots for her – if I'd known there was still something there, I would never have gotten involved with him, and – and – "

She was crying now, and it would have taken a less compassionate man then Lupin not to comfort her. He scooted his chair closer to hers and leaned into her, sliding his hand around the back of her head, his forehead pressed against hers. "It's not the end of the world," he whispered soothingly. "I know it feels like it is right now, but it's not, I promise."

"Oh, what would you know?" she snapped at what she felt was his condescending sympathy.

"I know more than you think. Tonks wasn't the first woman I was with. You'd be surprised how many women get a kick out of being with Dark Creatures... and think them so far beneath them that they don't actually have any feelings and won't mind if they play around. I had one woman say that she saw no difference between that and having more than one pet."

"And what did you do?"

"I ended up married to a woman I miss more than I thought it was possible to miss someone – more than I miss my human life," he said, omitting the fact that before Tonks, he had vowed not to get involved with another woman precisely because the only woman he'd found were interested in him also saw him a pet, a kinky experience to collect.

In her self-pity, she had forgotten that Lupin had lost more than she had. The heartache and loss in his voice was obvious. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was thinking about myself."

"It's OK." He didn't let go of her head, even though he knew he should. There was something comforting in being in such physical proximity to someone else who had lost someone close to him. A brother wasn't the same as a wife, but they were still someone that you loved and never stopped missing. "Teddy's a big comfort to me."

On cue, Teddy stirred in his pram and woke up. He started to cry, and Lupin let go of Ginny to get his son. "Can I hold him?" she asked. "Please? I always wanted a baby brother or sister." With the reluctance of an overprotective father, Lupin reluctantly handed Teddy over.

"You're doing it wrong," he said a little testily when she clutched him with all the pizzazz that she might her book bag and he yelped. He moved behind her. "Like this," he said. "You have to support his head – " he moved one arm to do just that, "and his back." He moved her other arm so she was holding Teddy in a way that he approved and then went back to his own chair.

"Wow," she said, feeling the baby in her arms and suddenly feeling a surge of hope for the future to feel this little boy who would grow up in peace, in a world not only free of the fret of Voldermort, but hopefully free of the bigotry and fear that he had brought with him. No wonder Lupin had found such a reason to live. "He has your eyes," she commented.

"It's pretty cool – he can change his hair colour at will but he's always got green eyes."

"You sound proud of that."

"Every parent wants to see a bit of their child in themselves."

"Then hopefully he'll be intelligent, compassionate, great teacher, father, husband... but not a werewolf. He can inherit Tonks's metamophmagus abilities instead."

"I like the sound of that," he said, and found himself smiling at her; the first time he'd smiled at anyone other than Teddy since the battle. Teddy started to cry again, and Lupin reached for him. "It's about time for his lunch," he said, almost apologetically. He had to admit, he _liked_ being around her, though he shouldn't – at least, not any more than he did any of his other students.

"How do you – ?" she asked, wondering if it wasn't too personal a question.

To her relief, he laughed. "Ginny, I'm not the first man to be a single father to a baby. I do actually know my way around a bottle."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Don't be. I'm flattered that your biggest concern about my parenting skills is weather I can feed him or not." Teddy really started to cry at this point, and Lupin held his son against his chest, sliding his hand inside his son's shirt and rubbing his tiny back with what Ginny could see was a gentleness despite the fact his hand was almost the size of his little body. "I've got to go. But I'll see you around OK?" she nodded, and he was gone.

2


	2. Chapter 2

"You spend an awful lot of time with Professor Lupin," Luna said. It was a flat statement where others might have been snide, or coy, but snideness and coyness was not in her nature. It was what Ginny liked about Luna, she was upfront and often deeply insightful.

"I like being around him," she said. "He gets what it's like to have lost someone – sorry," she added, remembering that Luna had witnessed her mother's death as a young girl, even if she hadn't lost someone close to her in the recent war like she and Lupin had.

"That's quite alright," Luna said in her sweet, sing-song voice, seeming to understand completely that her pain, after almost ten years, had receded somewhat when so many people's were still very raw. "Does he let you hold Teddy?"

Teddy Lupin was proving to be almost as popular an addition to DADA as his father. Lupin kept the boy with him at all times, except for the days around the full moon when Andromeda had him. The little boy was remarkably well-behaved – especially, Lupin often joked, since his mother had demonstrated a singular _in_ability to behave – and seemed to know instinctively when his dad was teaching and limited his need to be fed, changed or petty to a minimum. Not that anyone particularly minded when Teddy wanted to be fed or petted; it was quite endearing to see Lupin sitting on his desk, teaching the class at the same time as he'd have his son in his arms, feeding him, or maybe just tickling his stomach and making him gurgle with delight. Everyone wanted to hold and pet him, but he was extremely protective of Teddy. So when Ginny nodded that Lupin let her hold Teddy, Luna was clearly jealous. "He's so pedantic though, he makes me so nervous," she added.

"I don't think I could feel nervous around him," Luna said. "He's got such a kind heart. It's so tragic that he had so little time with his wife."

Ginny murmured her agreement absently. She had taken to knocking on the door to his rooms before entering after she had walked in to find him sobbing brokenly over Tonks. It had been so raw, so private a grief that it had dwarfed what she felt for Fred.

She said goodbye to Luna and dropped by Lupin's rooms. He had done remarkably well to make them look homey, given they were in the basement close to the DADA teaching rooms. She knocked and he called, "Come in." She let herself in and was welcome with a smile. "Hi, Ginny. "I was just making some tea. Would you like some?"

Suddenly a nice hot cup of tea seemed the perfect thing for a chilly day in the chilly basement. "Don't you get cold in here?" she asked, taking note of the thin – long-sleeved, to hide the scars on his arms, but thin nonetheless – shirt that he was wearing... and the fact Teddy was rugged up in a warm romper suit and blanket.

"My body temperature runs higher than human, so I feel the cold less," he explained casually, as well he might, since his different physiology to humans was something he had long become used to.

Ginny, however, had never heard of it; as far as she knew, Bill had never experienced any change beyond his enjoyment of very rare steaks. "Really?" she asked, and before she had thought it through, she went to put her hand on his chest. He flinched slightly. "Sorry," she said.

"It's fine. I just haven't been touched by a woman since Tonks. And that's not going to do anything. Here, if you're so interested – " He removed her hand from her chest and used his free hand to unbutton his shirt. He slid her hand inside her shirt. "See, feel?" he asked.

He didn't know why he had done it. He should never have allowed Ginny to get close enough that she felt she was at liberty to touch him like that – and he certainly shouldn't have encouraged her by moving her hand from his shirt to his bare-skinned chest. But he liked having her around and it had felt natural to move her hand when she'd expressed a curiosity and – "Wow, you're hearts going crazy," she marvelled.

He removed her hand before it went even crazier. "Don't flatter yourself, that isn't your doing," he told a semi-truth. "My heart always goes faster." He moved away from her, grateful for the whistling of the kettle. He started brewing tea.

She picked Teddy up from his crib. He gurgled when he recognised her and reached out a tiny fist to tug at her hair. "Ouch!" she cried, feeling her hair pull out at the roots.

"Yeah, he does that," Lupin said. "I suggest you keep your hair back next time." She pulled a hair lackey out of her pocket and tried in vain to tie her hair back while holding onto Teddy. "Here," Lupin said. She thought he was going to take his son off her, but instead he pulled her hair back behind her head and tied it loosely. Then he handed her a steaming cup of tea. "Thanks," she said, sipping it gratefully. It warmed her up instantly. "You make a good cup."

He took his own cup and pulled up a chair a little bit away from her, watching her with his son intently – so intently that Ginny felt the heat of his gaze on her and squirmed. "Sorry," he said when he realised he was making her uncomfortable. "But everytime I see him with you I'm reminded that he's never going to know her."

"Do you have any regrets?" she asked.

"More than I can tell you. I regret not making her understand that it was in everyone's best interest for her to stay at home. But mostly what I regret is not being with her when she first came to me. It was just after Sirius died, you know. I'd been holding her at arm's length for a year but I was so lonely and I took her to bed... then held her at arm's length for another year until she went batshit at me over Bill. Then I walked out on her when I found out she was pregnant. That's almost three years I could have had with her, instead of a few weeks."

"I'm so sorry," she said. It made her own heartache over Harry seem so trivial.

* * *

Harry accepted the warm embrace of the man he had come to consider an uncle-figure joyously. Lupin was looking good – well, as good as a man who was clearly still deep in grief for his wife could be. A steady job with decent pay had done a lot for him. And having Teddy to live for must have done wonders.

He peered into the pram that Teddy lay in, asleep. "Hey, kiddo," he cooed at the sleeping baby. "How's he handling Hogwarts?"

"Really well, you never saw such a well-behaved boy. I only wish he'd wake up, he doesn't get as much fresh air as I would like." The two men had met at the Three Broomsticks Pub, and Lupin had insisted in sitting outside despite the chill in the air – Teddy was well-rugged up anyway – so the boy could enjoy the clean, crisp air, even asleep.

"I hope he wakes up before I go. Not much point in being his godfather if I can't interact with him."

The two men chatted briefly about Harry's travels – he had been over most of Europe, hailed as a hero. Seeing the world had been good for him, Lupin thought. "What I really want to do is become an Auror," Harry admitted. The thought had been in his head for the last three and a half years, since Alastor Moody – who had actually been Barty Crouch Junior – had mentioned it. Even though that Moody had turned out to be a fraud, he had never been able to let go of the idea. "But they take hardly anyone."

"I think you'll find they have a massive hole in their ranks," Lupin said dryly – Tonks had been one of the many Aurors who had died in the war. "I can talk to Andromeda for you if you like. She still has a lot of clout with the Ministry." Particularly now that Bellatrix was dead and Narcissa in disgrace, Andromeda was the only Black left and therefor her opinion held a lot of sway.

"You would do that? I thought she hated you," Harry said in surprise.

"_Hate_ is too strong a word... try disgust that her only grandchild is being raised by a werewolf," Lupin said dryly. "But she loved Teddy, and she'll do a _lot_ if I offer her an extra weekend with him in exchange. Besides, she knows it's in all four of our best interests for you to be able to support Teddy in the way she and Tonks were used to. I think she'll actually love the idea of his godfather being an Auror. It's a very respectable job."

Harry flashed Lupin a grateful smile. "I'd appreciate that," he said.

Teddy stirred, and Lupin lifted him out of his pram and handed him to Harry. Looking surprised, Harry picked a single long red hair off his blanket. "Ah, that would be Ginny," Lupin explained. "He has a thing for grabbing long hair. Probably would have scalped her if he'd had the opportunity."

"You – er – see a lot of her then?" Harry asked in surprised.

"No more than any other of my students," Lupin found himself lying, because he didn't care to explain to Harry that he saw his ex almost every other day. "She likes Teddy and she likes talking about Fred. It's really hard for her, being separated from everyone at a time like this. Molly would probably have been better off having her privately tutored, but she believed it was her duty to keep the Hogwarts tradition alive."

"Sounds like Molly," Harry mused. "I bet she's sorry she doesn't have any more kids to send along." There was a long pause, then Harry asked. "Does – does she ever talk about me?"

"A little. You really hurt her."

Harry squirmed. "I didn't mean to. Things just sort of... happened."

"Harry, for what it's worth, I think both of you were too young to settle down. I can tell just looking at you how good being single and travelling has been for you. But you can't deny you went a lousy way about it. I've no doubt she would have understood eventually if you'd been upfront about how you felt. But it's a hell of a lot harder to get over being cheated on."

Harry squirmed some more. "I know. And I'm sorry. Can you – can you tell her that?"

"You should really tell her yourself," Lupin said pointedly. Harry looked terrified at the thought, which amused him somewhat, but also made a kind of sense. Given the choice between facing Voldermort and facing the Weasley temper, chances were, _he_ would take Voldermort, too. "Fine, I'll talk to her. But don't blame me if it only makes things worse."

* * *

Ginny picked up a birthday card that she recognised as being written by Harry. "You've seen him?" she asked.

Now, Lupin found himself squirming. He'd been hoping to tell her more gently. "Um, yeah," he said. She started to flare. "Wipe that look off your face," he said shortly. "He's Teddy's godfather. Without him, do you know who's Teddy's next of kin after me and Andromeda?"

"Narcissa and Draco," Ginny said in a small voice.

"Exactly. Narcissa and Malfoy. I know he hurt you and you know I'm fond of you, but if I have to choose between your happiness and Teddy's security, it will always be Teddy."

"I know," she said in a small voice.

"Here." He took her by the waist and led her to the couch. "Sit down, I'll get you some chocolate." He returned in a minute with a giant slab of chocolate and two bottles of butterbeer. "For the love of Merlin, don't tell McGonagall I had you drinking in my rooms, but I think you need it."

Gratefully, Ginny took a long sip. "Thankyou," she said. "I'm sorry if I acted like a brat. I know you want what's best for Teddy. And he's a good godfather. Teddy will always be OK with him."

"I know, that's why we chose him. But that doesn't mean I don't value your friendship, too."

"I – friendship?"

"Yes, friendship. I like to think that we're friends, at least in these rooms."

She smiled tearily at him. She loved the idea of having a friend in him – even just in these rooms. "Thanks," she said.

But she couldn't tell him how upset she had been to know that Lupin had been seeing Harry. It broke her heart all over again. She had known that Harry was Teddy's godfather, so naturally it meant that the two men would be seeing a lot of each other, but there was a difference between knowing that and seeing cards from Harry lying around in Lupin's possessions.

* * *

She didn't want to be around her classmates. She didn't want to be around anyone, not even Lupin. _Especially_ not Lupin. And then it occurred to her: Hagrid had gone to France for a few weeks over the Christmas holidays to spend time with Olympie Maxine, which meant his hut would be empty. She got hide out there until her heart felt less broken...

..."Remus? Something up?" McGonagall asked him over dinner. Lupin always made an appearance for dinner, though he preferred to cook in his own rooms after he was free to leave; left to his own devices, he preferred meat uncooked, although he was too aware of social conventions to demonstrate that preference in public. So the compromise was that he show up for the beginning of each meal and eat in private before or after.

"Just think about Harry. I saw him the other day," Lupin said, trying to keep an eye on the window and the figure walking towards what he assumed was Hagrid's cabin in the red robes of Gryffindor discreetly enough that McGonagall wouldn't know what he was doing. If Ginny was going to Hagrid's cabin knowing full well that he wasn't there – he had mentioned it himself – then she had good reason, and he wanted to investigate it before McGonagall did.

"How's he doing?"

"Well. He loved travelling, it's done him so much good to see a world outside of London and Hogwarts." He kept sight of Ginny out of the corner of his eyes. Maybe she'd been more upset than he'd thought. Damn, he should have paid for attention. He made his excuses as soon as he could, then exited out of the castle and headed towards Hagrid's cabin...

... She stumbled in the thick drift of snow, her House cloak no match for the weather. She felt the tears stream down her face, starting out warm than quickly going icy in the fierce wind. She stumbled again and felt her knees knuckle and for the life of her, couldn't will them to straighten and keep walking...

... A few minutes later, Lupin scooped her up out of the snow. "You'd better have a damn good reason for being out here in this weather," he growled. He could feel the cold in thick winter gear and his higher body temperature that provided a natural insulation, so she had to be chilled to the bone in nothing but jeans, a t-shirt and her House cloak. He carried her into Hagrid's cabin, deciding that it was best to shelter there, at least until she warmed up, then take her back to the castle.

The snow had soaked her clothes right through. He stripped her of her cloak and ran a basic drying spell on her, but she started to shiver violently. He started a blazing fire in the fireplace and moved her in front of it, backing against her and propping her up in his arms so she wouldn't collapse. "C'mon, love," he coaxed. "Wake up." He threaded his fingers through hers. "At least try and squeeze my hand." To his relief, Ginny squeezed his hand weakly. "Good girl. Now wake up." Instead, she started shivering even more violently.

He remembered how he had driven Tonks bonkers the way he would always kick the blankets off, and they resolved the problem in the brief time they had been together by cuddling up to her and keeping her warm that way. "I'm _really_ sorry about this, love," he whispered. Procuring a blanket, he awkwardly undid Ginny's shirt under the blanket, taking great care to touch her as little as possible, then undid the front of his shirt so he could press his bare chest directly against her bare back. He was grateful at least that she was wearing a bra.

Her skin was icy. Slowly, from the combination of the blanket, the fire and his body heat, he felt her warming up and her breathing regulate. "Good girl," he said. He felt a strong urge to run his mouth through her hair the way he did when Tonks was spooned in his arms and berated his body for reacting to intimacy – no, just _physical proximity_ – with a woman – no, a _girl_. "Now just come to and I'll take you back to the castle." He stayed with her for a while before he started to feel fatigued. He reasoned that it was too hot for him to sleep properly, so if he just closed his eyes for a minute or two while waiting for her to warm up, it would be OK...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Remus?" Ginny asked sleepily.

Lupin bolted awake. "_Shit_," he muttered, and she giggled slightly, never having heard him or any other professor swear before. He looked out the dirty window of Hagrid's cabin; it was bright outside, and the snow had stopped. "_Shit shit shit_. I meant to take you back to the castle hours ago. I thought I could get you back for dinner."

"Where am I?" she asked, disoriented. "Wait – _did you take my shirt off_?"

"Relax. I wasn't coming onto you. You were practically hypothermic and I didn't dare try and get you back to the castle in that weather in your condition. I used to do it with Tonks to keep her warm."

"She was your _wife!_" Though she wasn't the only student to find Lupin a little attractive, all the more so because of his tragic past, there was a big difference between having a high-school crush on a teacher and having that teacher strip you half-naked and compare it to things he did with his wife.

"And you felt like a block of ice! I'm not going to apologise for saving your goddamn life."

"Sorry. Of course I'm grateful."

"What the hell were you doing out here anyway? And dressed like you were?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Where's my shirt?"

He reached behind him where he'd tossed her shirt. In doing so, his eyes went wide with horror when he saw McGonagall and Sprout, who was doubling for both Hufflepuff and Gryffindor Houses. "Remus," McGonagall said, her voice shaking with fury. "What the _hell_ have you done?"

Lupin scrambled up, partly to prove that he was still wearing his pants and partly because he wanted to be on eye level with the indomitable Headmistress. "Nothing! I saw her coming here last night and she was frozen so – "

"So you figured it was best that you strip down and get cosy in front of the fire? In case you haven't forgotten, Remus, your wife is _dead_."

He flinched at that brutal reminder. "I know that. I wasn't trying to be a husband. I was _trying_ to _save her life_."

"Why the hell didn't you tell me? Is _that_ why you were distracted last night? Merlin's _beard_, do you know how _bad_ this looks?"

"I haven't done anything!"

McGonagall sighed. "I know you haven't. But do you think anyone is going to believe that?"

* * *

"_What the hell did you do to my little girl?_" Molly Weasley shrieked the next day when she and her husband Arthur were called into Hogwarts for an emergency meeting.

"I – didn't – do – anything," Lupin said through gritted teeth. Everytime he'd said it he felt a little more stupid for not just telling McGonagall that he had seen Ginny heading for Hagrid's. Instead, he had been busted half-naked with a seventeen-year-old student. "There's a dozen charms and spells to prove she's still a virgin, if you don't believe me."

Molly glowered at him. "Oh, I believe you," she spat, with all the venom she would have used had she _not_ believed him. "But no-one else will. You've _ruined_ her."

"He didn't – " Ginny protested, but Molly cut her off.

"Another word out of you and I will _hex_ you, you stupid girl," she spat. "What the hell were you thinking, going out there in weather like that? You could have killed yourself. Maybe you should have. No man will _look_ at you now that you've ruined yourself."

"Molly!" Lupin admonished her instinctively, unable to just sit there and let her talk to Ginny like that.

"Shut up!" she yelled at Lupin. "You know perfectly well that no man will want her now that they think she's been with a werewolf." Lupin went dead quiet, knowing that Molly was speaking the truth. People were so ignorant of lycanthropy, not realising that it was perfectly safe to have a sexual relationship with them most days of the month. People didn't like drinking from the sake glass as him, so no man would want to be with any woman they thought had been with a werewolf. It was what he had constantly warned Tonks about, but now Tonks was dead and the talk couldn't hurt her. But it could – and would – ruin Ginny. "You'll have to marry her," Molly decided, glaring at him as if daring him to defy her.

He defied her. "I'm not marrying her."

"You'd rather see her ruined than marry her?" Molly challenged.

"Yeah, I would. You know the Dark Laws as well as me."

It was clear from the silence that Molly knew them, but they had slipped her mind. "What are the Dark Laws?" Ginny asked.

"It doesn't matter because I'm not going to marry you," Lupin said shortly, so shortly that Ginny reeled back as if he'd snapped her.

"It would only be the once?" Molly asked, weighing up the bad aspects of one situation versus the negative aspects of another.

"Molly!" Lupin said incredulously. "I am not – I'm old enough to be her father!"

"What are the Dark Laws?" Ginny asked again.

"Be quiet, Ginny," Lupin and Molly said at the same time, both of them making it clear that they didn't think her thoughts weighed into the discussion – despite the fact they were talking about her marriage.

"I _won't be quiet!_" Ginny screamed at the. "You're discussing me like I'm not even here. I have a right to a say. Now _what are the Dark Laws_?"

"The Dark Laws are a wizarding law that dates back as far as anyone can remember," Lupin said, the distaste for having to discuss such a thing in front of someone so young evident in his tone. "For all we so, Salthezar Slytherin himself brought it into being. Basically it means that if a woman – or girl," he added ironically, because although Ginny was of age, she was young enough to be _his_ girl – "is a virgin when she marries and the marriage _isn't_ consummated, it leaves her vulnerable to – er – less scrupulous men whose – er – _actions_ – can permanently bind her to them."

"Speak English, Remus," Ginny snapped, and for a moment, Lupin was struck by how much she looked like Molly – that same strong-willed determination. Harry would certainly have been in for a surprise had they stayed together.

"Your parents have pissed off too many purebloods and Death-Eaters for you _not_ to be a target. If I married you and _didn't_ have sex with you, they would have worked it out and one of them would raped you and bound you to him, making you his sexual slave until you couldn't stand it anymore and killed yourself – if he gave you the means to do it," he added with deliberate cruelty to emphasize the hell she would go through should that happen. "You understand now why I won't marry you? You're much better off living in disgrace than living with _that_."

Ginny gulped, looking like she was about to throw up, and nodded. But Molly persisted, "if it were just the one time – "

"Molly! I told you I wouldn't do it! _Look _at her, Molly. _Look at your daughter_." Ginny was trembling, grasping what her mother was asking of Lupin in order to salvage her reputation; a marriage, a single consummation and then an empty marriage. "She'll hate you if you make her do this."

"And _I_ won't speak to her again if she doesn't," Molly countered. Arthur looked as though he was going to protest, but she cut him off with a single glance.

With a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, Lupin knew that Molly meant every word of what she said. She had refused to back down on her beliefs when she and Percy had had a blazing row that had resulted in a two-year estrangement. If she said she wouldn't speak to Ginny again if she didn't marry Lupin, then she meant it. "I want to speak to her," he said forcefully. "_Alone_."

"That's what caused this mess in the first place," Molly said.

"Fine, then." Lupin stood up and headed for the door.

"Wait! OK," Molly agreed reluctantly. She, Arthur and McGonagall left the room.

Lupin scooted over to where Ginny was sitting and kneeled at her seat. She was crying. He took her hands in his. They were so small and smooth and he was more aware than ever of the scars on his hands – and the rest of his body. "I'm sorry I got you into this," he said. "I'll marry you if you want me to. It won't be a real marriage but it will salvage some of your reputation and it will mean your mother still speaks to you – if you're not too busy hating her. But, listen to me – and _look at me_, Ginny, I need to know you understand this – the marriage has to be consummated. It won't be the way you thought about it with Harry."

"I understand," she said shakily, and despite that shakiness, he could hear in her voice that she did. Instinctively, he grabbed her hand, and she gripped it in an iron hold, needing his support desperately. Her head was racing. She hated her mother for this, but despite that, she didn't want to be estranged from the family. Ironically, the hand he had offered her was his left, so she could feel the metal of his wedding ring in her grip. She had no doubt that he wouldn't try to consummate their marriage beyond the one time because he didn't want her; he only wanted Tonks. She didn't know what made her feel more isolated, an empty marriage because it was one of convenience, or an empty marriage because her husband would be too deep in grief for his first wife to barely register that he had a second. And yet, the alternative... "I'll marry you, if you're willing," she said.

He stood up and kissed her forehead chastely as he did. Tonks had practically dragged him to the first celebrant she could find when he had agreed to marry her, skipping along as she did, and done the same all the way back to her apartment so they could begin their lives as husband and wife. It was a far cry from Ginny crying and agreeing to it because it was the best of two crappy options. Absently he twisted his wedding ring around his finger – a gesture Ginny didn't fail to notice. _Forgive me, love_, he pleaded with his late wife, hoping that wherever she was, she understood why he was doing this.

* * *

"Since when did you have a second bedroom back here?" Ginny asked.

"Since always. It's three bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen. I was planning on using this one as a nursery eventually but I prefer keeping him with me for the moment. And the other one's my study, so you can have this one, unless you'd rather go back to your dorm. But I figured you'd prefer that you didn't flaunt the nature of our marriage." Ginny shoved her hands in her coat pockets and blushed, because Lupin was one hundred percent correct. It was one thing to have everyone work out that he had married her after being caught in a compromising position with her – and no-one would believe that that compromising position had merely been a means of keeping her warm – but for everyone to know that she may as well go back to her dorm than stay with her husband for all that he was interested in her was one humiliation that she couldn't take. "I'm going to leave Teddy here for the night, but after that, it will be yours to do with as you wish."

"Wait – Teddy's – _staying here_?" she asked incredulously, the thought of her new step-son in the same small collection of rooms on her wedding night causing a knot to form in her stomach. "Can't you leave him with his grandmother?"

"I'm sorry, love. I thought of that. But I don't dare leave him with Andromeda until she's accepted this situation. If she's got him when she learns about you, she's likely to make sure I never get him back. My bedroom's just through there," he said, although he knew she knew where it was. "I've got to do a few things first and I'll be with you in a few minutes."

She nodded, and went to the bedroom. He settled Teddy down and made sure the mystical baby monitor was working perfectly before heading into the kitchen where he'd already prepared the potions that would make tonight as easy as possible. He grinned wryly at that. _Was_ there such a thing as 'as easy as possible' when you were talking about an marriage between two people who were still grieving over their lost loves, a marriage that had to be consummated in short order to prevent dire consequences? _You can do this_, he told himself. _You have to_. He swallowed the lust potion he'd made himself in one go.

He walked into the bedroom. Ginny was sitting on his bed wearing exactly the kind of full-length cotton pyjamas that he would have expected a Hogwarts student to wear to bed, reminding him of her youth. He sat down on the bed next to her, putting the potions down on the dresser. He twisted his wedding ring around nervously, then realised that he couldn't do this while wearing it. He yanked it off his finger and dropped it into the dresser, shutting it abruptly. He clenched his fist, feeling naked without it, but the alternative, of having sex with another woman while wearing it, make him feel sick to his stomach. "You alright?" Ginny asked him nervously.

"Fine, just... always wore it, even when we were separated.'

"I don't mind if you want to keep it on."

"I do. I feel like I'm cheating on her enough as it is." She didn't know what to say to that. It was clear that he was agitated at the thought of having sex with her – more so, she suspected, because he felt like he was cheating on Tonks than for the fact she was young enough to be his daughter. He reached out and stroked her hair with a gentleness that could only come from experience. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. "Ginny," he said softly. "I've made two potions. One's a lust potion and it will make it more enjoyable for you... easier to turn you on, but it won't do anything for the pain – and it will hurt," he added. "The other will numb you, make it less painful. I didn't know which you'd rather"

"Can't I have them both?"

He shook his head. "They'll cancel each other out. I recommend numbing yourself. It'll take away most of the pain and I'm pretty good at turning women on." As if to demonstrate, he moved his hand from her hair across her cheek and lips before dropping it. She parted her lips slightly and was suddenly filled with the urge to have him kiss her. She nodded, and he handed her a mug. "Before you take it, I need you to consent. I don't want to hear it from you while you're alert enough to know what you're saying."

She looked at him blankly. "You have rights," she told him. "You don't need my consent."

"I never want you to think that a man has a right to your body, even your husband," he said with quiet forcefulness.

She shivered at the forcefulness of his words, knowing that he meant them with every fibre of his being and that even if he were her husband in every sense of the word, he wouldn't force himself onto her. She felt a strong stab of jealousy towards Tonks. "I consent," she said, somewhat breathlessly. "I'll have sex with you."

He handed her the mug and she downed it quickly. She felt herself start to go numb instantly, her reflexes slow down... and yet when Lupin kissed her, she felt an electric thrill run through her. She'd had plenty of boyfriends in fourth and fifth years, but none who'd been old enough to cultivate facial hair and Lupin's short beard and moustache was a thrilling new sensation for her. He flicked his tongue into her mouth and her reflexes weren't _so_ deadened that she didn't know how to kiss him back. "Remus," she whispered.

He pushed her down onto the bed and began kissing her face and neck. She squirmed under his expert touch, unused to anything but inexperienced boys – even Harry. Her breath caught in her throat when she felt his facial hair tickle at the skin at the top button of her pyjama top. She'd known the technicalities of what would happen, but that was a lot different to feeling his hot breath on her skin, his fingers on the top button of her top. "Yes..." she whispered encouragingly, even though he'd said he wouldn't accept her consent after she'd taken the potion.

Even though he'd said he wouldn't accepted her consent after she'd taken the potion, it still egged him on to hear her say it. And his own position was kicking in. He started undoing the buttons of her pyjama top, pulling the material apart as he went, kissing her exposed skin as he went, fastening his mouth on her breast, licking her nipple until it went hard and she was whimpering and writhing under him. He kept stroking her breasts with his hands while he kissed his way down her torso and tugged at her pyjama bottoms, pulling it down her legs and tossing it on the floor. She looked so tempting, clad only in her panties, that he could forget that he was recently widowed and she was only seventeen. He kissed her through her panties, vaguely aware that this was much further than she had been with a man – well, a boy – before and took it as slow as he could manage, which wasn't easy, given she was starting to moan in earnest.

He felt himself going hard as he touched her and he was suddenly very aware that it had been over a year since he had been with anyone – since he had walked out on Tonks. Tonks, his Dora... It was so easy to let his thoughts wander to her as he removed Ginny's panties and started eating her out. She tasted sweet and he could almost believe that she tasted like Tonks... he felt his pants tighten and he fumbled to unzip them, freeing his erection and letting it grow as he tended to Ginny.

She climaxed after a few minutes, overwhelmed by the sensations that were flooding her body. She had liked the way boys made her feel, of course, but it had never been anything like _that_.

He crawled up on the bed, his eyes tightly shut, refusing to open them and ruin his fantasy that he was with his wife. Grunting, he wedged his knee in between her thighs. Nervously she spread them wide enough to let him kneel between them. He balanced on his knees and reached to where he'd left a condom and put it on, all without opening his eyes. She willed him to open his eyes but couldn't bring herself to ask for it. It had to be done and it was important he didn't lose his nerve. Besides, he'd done a plenty good job already of turning her on...

She gasped and went rigid as he plunged into her. She bit down on her lip to stop from crying out because she knew she wouldn't be able to pass it off as a cry of delight. Now she was glad he had his eyes shut. _Slow down, _she thought. _Slow down_. He was opening her up, breaking her in, grunting like an animal, reminding her of the pigs they had kept when they mated, seeming not to care that he was hurting her, lost in his lust. She felt tears well in her eyes as he sliced through her, deflowering her roughly with the size and force of his erection. She wanted to cry out for him to stop, knowing that he would if she told him to, and knowing that if he did, they would just have to do it all over again. She was experienced enough to know that it didn't 'count' if he didn't come, even with the muggle protection that he was using.

He was kissing her now, hungrily and forcefully, not seeming to notice that she wasn't kissing him back, lost in his lust... or a fantasy. "Dora," he grunted. "Dora, love, love – ahhh..." He gave one final, hard thrust, burying himself inside her, and, she gathered, climaxed.

He withdrew quickly, which she was grateful for, and removed the condom. The climax had a sobering effect on him, and he was yanked back to reality – his wife was dead, and he had been forced into marriage with a girl young enough to be his daughter, obliged to have sex with her because the consequences of having her remain a virgin would be devastating. She was crying, and he knew he had hurt her – both physically and by calling her Dora – and he was disgusted with himself. He wished he'd stood his ground and refused to marry her. Her mother's wrath couldn't possibly be worse than how she must be feeling now. "I'm going to check on Teddy and have a shower," he said stiffly. "I'll be quick, and then you can spend all night in there if you want."

He handled his son gingerly, paranoid that he could smell another woman on him, and put him down once he knew Teddy was just as fine as when he'd left him. Then he had a shower, scrubbing himself thoroughly

He went back into his bedroom, where Ginny was perched gingerly on his bed, her pyjamas back on, looking utterly dazed, like she had no idea what she was supposed to do now. She probably did, he thought. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to get carried away."

"It's fine. You warned me it would hurt. I'd rather it was you than – someone else."

He sat down next to her and took her hand. She let it lie limply in his, and he dropped it. "If you don't want me to touch you, then say so. But don't just tolerate it. Go and have a shower. You'll feel better. I'll fix you a sedative if you want."

"No thankyou," she said stiffly, and he didn't particularly blame her for not wanting any more potions from him. She went to have a shower, and he doubted he'd see her again that night.

Once she had closed the door to his bedroom, he went over to the fire, threw in some powder and called Molly. "It's done," he said, the disgust evident in his voice.

"You sure?" she asked suspiciously.

"You want me to send you the sheets?" he asked sarcastically. "Or maybe I'll just send you back your humiliated daughter."

"What did you do to her?"

"I'm a thirty-eight-year-old widower, Molly, she is – _was_ – a seventeen-year-old virgin. I didn't have to do much. I hope you're happy, she hates you. She hates _me_."

"You make it sounds like that's more important," she said accusingly.

"_You're_ the one who made her do it. Bet she regrets it now," he couldn't resist taunting her. "Bet she'd rather you not talking to her than how she feels right now."

"I'm coming right over."

"You'll do no such thing. You wanted her to have respectability? How much d'you think she'll have if her mum shows up in the middle of the night to comfort her on her wedding night. Stay exactly where you are until one of us calls for you." He said this last sentence with obvious contempt, making it clear that that wasn't going to happen anytime soon. He took malicious delight in the fact that since he doubted Ginny wanted to see her anytime soon, Molly would miss out on guiding her daughter through the early days of her marriage.

His conversation with Molly ended coolly and, feeling there was nothing else he could do, he lay down on his bed. But no matter how strong a cleaning spell he had put on it, it smelled like Ginny and their humiliating sex. He switched to the couch and curled up on it, then began to cry, feeling dirty and alone. He was glad his wife was dead – he couldn't bring himself to think of Ginny by that title – so she couldn't see him now.

4


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Thanks for reading. I had actually finished it but got a few more ideas for extras chapters/scenes from here on it. Sorry if there are some inconsistencies that have come up as a result - I'm trying to fix them as they come up.**

"Ginny, you can't go out like that. You look like you've scrubbed yourself raw and cried all night." Ginny sniffled, and he knew that was exactly what she had done. He traced his wand over her face, softly chanting a simply healing spell that cleared up her skin and eyes. "I'm sorry for the way I treated you," he said again. "I hope you can forgive me one day."

"There's nothing you can forgive, Remus. I knew what I was getting into."

"There's knowing it, and there's actually experiencing it. I don't blame you for hating me."

"I don't hate you." Despite the fact she sounded tired and sad, she also sounded sincere.

Hesitantly, he leaned in to kiss her forehead. She wasn't limp the way she had been last night when he'd tried to hold her hand. "Good girl," he said.

Despite herself, she giggled. "Remus, you'd better not call me that in class."

"You'd better not call me Remus in class."

She bit her lip. It had all been explained to her. McGonagall had reluctantly stood by Lupin because she needed him too much as a DADA teacher and he technically hadn't done anything wrong – there was nothing against the rules that a teacher couldn't be involved with a student so long as the student was over seventeen. The shit would absolutely hit the fan, of course, and there would no doubt be parents removing their parents from the school, but McGonagall expected those removals to be limited. The type of parents who cared about a – seemingly – adult, consensual student-teacher involvement had mostly already pulled their children. They key was discretion. Which meant no referring to him by his first name. Or public displays of affection – which wasn't an issue, of course. McGonagall had stressed discretion and, when it doubt, that he was to take the lead and treat her like his student, not his wife. It all seemed so confusing to her.

"Hey," he said, sensing her thoughts much better than he had last night. "It'll be fine. Just follow my lead." She nodded. She turned to go. "Oh, and Ginny?" She turned back around to face him. "I spoke to your mum last night. She wants to come over. Maybe you can go to The Burrow next Hogsmead weekend."

Ginny's face twisted into an ugly look of hatred. "Fuck her," she spat, and turned on her heels and stormed out of the room.

* * *

"They what?"

"Got married. Ginny and Professor Lupin."

Sometimes, Neville Longbottom forgot that Luna has a tendancy to take a shocked 'What?' as evidence that she hadn't been heard and so she'd repeat herself. "I heard you, sweetheart, I just can't believe it. I never thought he'd remarry." Actually, there had been a time where a lot of people hadn't thought he'd make it to Christmas; he certainly wouldn't have been the first person to kill himself in the aftermath of the war, feeling they'd lost too many loved ones to go on.

"There was a bit of a scandal," Luna said dreamily. "They spent the night together in Hagrid's cabin and Professor McGonagall called her parents in the next day." If it had been anyone but Luna, Neville would have assumed she was taking pleasure out of said scandal; but this was just Luna repeating what she knew. And when it came to actual, existing people news, as opposed to conspiracy theories and creatures that likely didn't exist, Luna was pretty good at passing on only what she knew had happened. "Maybe they were both really lonely."

Neville had to admit, it sounded damning, but... "I can't imagine him seducing a student. I mean, if he has any flaws as a Professor it's that he cares too much – look at the way he interceded with Flitwick over you spending Hogsmead weekends with me." When Flitwick had refused Luna permission to use her Hogsmead weekends to go to London to see Neville instead, Lupin had stepped in and calmly and rationally pointed out that Luna was an adult and Neville was perfectly entitled to come to Hogwarts to see her, but since he'd already postponed his apprenticeship for a year so he wouldn't be teaching Luna, it didn't seem fair to force him to come to the school. It had been a calm and logical argument and Flitwick had given Luna the permission she needed. "He's going to look kind of dumb now," Neville mused. _He_ certainly wouldn't want to be teaching his wife.

"They spent the night together, I know that much," Luna insisted stubbornly.

"I'm not doubting you, sweetheart. I just can't imagine either of them hooking up, even if they were really lonely. They're both too in love with other people and too fundamentally honest to do that." There was the possibility that, being the fundamentally honest people that they were, they recognised the fact they were in love with other people and saw each other as a no-strings, no emotional commitment liaison. That would be plausible... if it wasn't for the fact of Ginny being his student.

Neville was stumped.

They spent Saturday carousing around London. Both purebloods, they had both been raised in magical community so muggle London was as enchanting to them as the idea of magic was to muggles. Neville now had a decent understanding of how pounds sterling worked – Hermione had quite dismissively said he couldn't claim to know how muggle money worked when he only knew how one specific currency worked, and he had been surprised to learn that muggles had all different kinds of currency, even just in Europe alone – which beat the hell of looking like a confused tourist despite the fact both of them were articulately spoken with strong English accents.

Luna squeezed his hand when he unconsciously found himself shying away from her hold. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"That's alright," she said in that all-understanding, sing-song voice of hers. It was part of what he liked about her. She knew he didn't pull away from her unconsciously because he didn't _want_ to hold her hand; she knew he did it because his hands were wrecked, an operational hazard of being passionate about Herbology, and her hands were so smooth and white and he wasn't yet fully convinced that he wasn't tarnishing that smoothness and whiteness somehow.

"Neville? Neville Longbottom?" Neville turned in the direction of the voice, and though he knew who it was immediately, he knew Luna wouldn't. She could feel her tense up and cower behind him and he automatically snaked his arm around behind him reassuringly. Hermione said there was a muggle term for it Post-Trauma Stress or something – and Andromeda Tonks had a way of bringing it out in people. Especially people who had spent months as prisoners in her sister's basement.

He suspected the reason Andromeda wanted to talk to him was because she had found out about Lupin and Ginny's marriage, and he was the first person she had stumbled across who might have some answers. And Andromeda had the decency to recognise Luna immediately, and why she was cowering behind Neville, and backed away. "I'll send you an owl," he promised quickly, before turning around to face Luna. "Hey, it's OK, it's only Andromeda. Bellatrix is dead," he said soothingly. She threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her tightly, feeling her trembling in relived terror. His heart went out to her. In her own kooky, offbeat way, she was a very strong young woman, and he hated seeing her so afraid. "Do you think you can Appirate back to the flat?" he asked. "I'm not very good at doing a side-on Apparition." She nodded, and they got back to his flat.

There was nothing he could do for her but stay with her until the immediacy of reliving the memory, and the terror that went with it, faded. His presence had a calming influence on her, which flattered him although it didn't entirely surprise him. They had been friends for years, part of the core group around Harry but still kind of outsides, and they had become close because of that. They had started out friends, and he had liked the way she liked having him around for company and protection – now, even more so. It had been a good foundation for a relationship. "I'll take you to school tomorrow," he offered, thinking that being taken from the security of her boyfriend's arms to the security of her Hogwarts House would be good for her frazzled nerves. "I want to speak to Remus anyway."

* * *

"I've never been here before," Neville said as he walked up to the Ravenclaw House with Luna.

"Didn't have any Ravenclaw friends?" she asked teasingly.

"Didn't have many friends," he corrected her good-naturedly. It was easy for him to talk about it now that he had several close friends and was much more at ease with himself than he had been even just a few years ago. They got to the lock-less, handle-less door and Luna got them in by answering a riddle.

The common room was spacious with a domed roof – quite different to the Gryffindor House. He paused to admire it while Luna joined a bunch of her fellow students near the fire.

"Neville Longbottom!" an attractive-looking girl said when she saw him. "Fancy seeing you here. I would have thought a bunch of students would be beyond a hero like you these days."

There was a flirtatious tone in her voice and a predatory look in her eyes that rubbed Neville the wrong way. He was used to female attention – the pivotal role he'd played in the Battle of Hogwarts had made him something of a hero, and the fact he'd slimmed down and toned up in the last few years made him very attractive to plenty of women. It was flattering, but not particularly enjoyable. He only had eyes for Luna. "This place was my home for seven years, and will be again next year when I started teaching. I could hardly be beyond it, Miss...?"

"Sarah Callahan," she offered. "Are you going to teach here? Such a shame that I would have graduated by then."

She was definitely coming onto him. "I didn't want to teach Luna," he said. "Did think I could maintain my professionalism." And if it meant that he wouldn't be teaching Sarah Callahan either, well, so much the better. He remembered Luna telling him about her; she was a complete man eater who had little regard for the sanctity of other people's relationships.

Her smile faltered. "Luna?" she asked.

He nodded. "We've been seeing each other for about six months. How come you never said anything, sweetheart?" he asked Luna. "Embarrassed of me?" he asked good naturedly, knowing that she wasn't.

"Just liked having something secret," she said. Her eyes told him something additional: that she didn't like someone like Sarah Callahan knowing she had a boyfriend – particularly a good-looking boyfriend who was known as a bit of a hero.

He smiled lovingly at her, aware that there was a dark look on Sarah's face. So she had been hoping for a flirtation but instead got the news that he was involved with someone she didn't seem to think much of. Well, Luna _was_ something of an acquired taste... and very much to _his_ taste. He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, running his fingers through her hair, savouring the feeling because he wouldn't see her until next Hogsmead weekend. "Is Flitwick in?" he asked.

"He's in his classroom," someone offered.

"Thanks," Neville said. "I'll see you next weekend off, OK?" he said softly to Luna. She nodded, smiling lovingly at him.

Neville found his old Charms professor in his classroom. "Neville," the tiny Professor said. "I had a feeling you'd be bringing Luna back. I got an owl from Andromeda," he explained. "Said Luna was quite shaken up."

Neville nodded. "She was in that basement for months," he said. "She still has nightmares about it. I thought it would be best if I escorted her back. She might be a little jittery for a bit."

"That was very considerate of you," Flitwick said. At first, he hadn't been happy with Luna spending Hogsmead weekends in London, but he had to admit, Neville was good for her – they were good for each other. And he had to admire the young man's foresight in not wanting to be known as Luan's boyfriend before he became known as their Professor.

"I was also hoping to catch up with Professor Lupin. Do you know where he'd be?"

"Either in the DADA classrooms if he's teaching, or most likely in his own rooms if he's not. Is this about Ginny?" Neville nodded. "Such a huge shock. Usually when something like this happens, you can see the signs in retrospect, but there's not a more unlikely couple, in my mind. It's not secret how badly he took Nymphodora's death, and I was under the impression she was still hung up on Harry."

"Me, too."

"Well, maybe he'll tell you what happened. You were one of his favourite students."

"He was my favourite Professor," Neville said, remembering that it had been Lupin who had first seen in him his potential and not his ineptitude. A little confidence had done him the world of good. "It will be good to work with him next year – and you, too."

"It will be good to have some fresh blood," Flitwick said. "You remember where the DADA rooms after?" Neville nodded and went to find his former Professor – and future colleague.

"Neville! It's good to see you – you're looking terrific," Lupin said when he saw his former student. "Luna treating you well?"

Neville nodded. "Thanks for going in to bat for me," he said. "I didn't want people to see as her boyfriend before they'd seen me as their Professor."

"A wise decision. It's what I told Flitwick. What are you doing here?" he asked. Neville explained. "Andromeda does have that effect on people," Lupin said sagely. "I bet she would have felt awful. How's Luna?"

"OK. She has her moments – I guess everyone does – but things are getting better. Everytime I see her she's less... afraid."

Lupin nodded. "So many of my students were at the Battle of Hogwarts – despite McGonagall's best efforts. Some of them are just so traumatised, I think it will take a long time before people are really over it – if they ever are."

"Why am I not surprised that you know all that about your students?"

He shrugged casually. "They all know what I lost in the war. I'm someone they can talk to. I'm glad that I have something to offer them."

"You mean apart from being the best damn DADA teacher we ever had?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, apart from that. But I take it you didn't just drop in to say hi?" he asked with his usual insightfulness – not that it took much insight to guess at what was on Neville's mind. "You want to know about Ginny and I." Caught out, Neville squirmed and began to stutter out an apology, but Lupin cut him off. "It's OK. I understand that people are curious. What have you heard?"

"That you spent the night with her and had to marry her," Neville said.

"That's close enough to the truth."

"But I don't believe it. You're like, the last Professor on earth who would get involved with a student... and you haven't exactly made a secret of how badly you took Tonks's death. I don't think you laid a finger on her. So if you didn't touch her – why did you marry her?"

Lupin was actually a little touched that Neville knew him so well – better, apparently, than his colleagues. "You won't say anything to Luna?" Neville nodded. "I mean it. I'm doing this for Ginny and it will completely undermine things if it gets out what a sham this marriage is." Neville's eyes went wide at the word 'sham' and he nodded more vigorously. Lupin explained what had happened. "The whole thing was horrible. I think I've scarred her for life."

"She must understand that you had no choice. Her mum's the one to blame, forcing her to make a choice like that. She won't hate you. And she's been through too much to be scarred for life over anything anymore. We all have, really. And it could have been a lot worse. She could have been with someone who'd take advantage of the situation – and she'd have no redress. She knows that."

"Yes, because thinking about what I _could_ have done makes me feel so much better," Lupin said sarcastically. "I – "

"Remus? Neville, what are you doing here?" Ginny asked, excited to see her old friend – but also a little concerned. Neville showing up so soon after her marriage – at the end of the Hogsmead weekend that had immediately proceeded it, weekends that he always spent with Luna – couldn't be a co-incidence. So Neville knew... she wondered if that meant Harry did, too.

"Luna was rattled from a run-in with Andromeda – you know how much she looks like Bellatrix. I brought her to back to school... and my curiosity needed to be sated."

Ginny tensed up at that, appearing clearly nervous. "It's alright, love, he knows the truth," he said. He reached for her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Neville took notice of the fact he called her 'love' and the way he reached for her hand. It might be a sham of a marriage but he seemed to genuinely care about her. But then, he wouldn't have married her if he hadn't; he would have just left her to the gossips and her mother's wrath. "Said he didn't buy for a second that I would get involved with a student. Was kind nice to hear, actually."

"I won't tell anyone," Neville reassured her quickly. "Not even Luna."

"Does Harry know?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" he asked shrewdly.

"I guess not."

He squeezed her hand again and gave Ginny a small smile that struck Neville as not being entirely platonic. "Why don't you go have a shower before dinner?" he suggested softly. "Wear that white shirt I like."

"She has a shirt that you like?" Neville asked, a touch smugly when Ginny obeyed his suggestion and made her way into the bathroom.

"I'm not interested in her, but I'm not blind, either," Lupin said. "She looks good in white. And please don't bring up Harry around her. If she's in a down mood in the first place, any mention of him can set her off. I think she's getting over him slowly, but it takes time and I think it's best not to remind her of him."

"That's very considerate of you."

"If I can make life a little easier for her then maybe I can make a little up to her."

"You care about her."

"You sound surprised that I do. I cared about her before any of this happened – more than I should have, maybe, but what's done is done – and she's a smart, sweet girl. I could do worse for company. I could have had to marry Sarah Callahan."

Neville made a face. "I met her," he said. "Five seconds and she set me on edge. I think I'd kill myself as an alternative to having to be alone with her, let alone marrying her."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for reading, guys!**

**Drusilla1987, the way I pictured it, they were both still in love with other people - Lupin especially, so while he _grows_ to see how gorgeous and perfect Ginny is, for a while he's still too entrenched in his grief to realise what he can build out of his new marriage.I know you didn't mean it that way, but it's actually a pet peeve of mine when some people are all 'how can he not dig her, she's hot!'. The whole story envolves around the fact he wanted to be left alone to his grief but thanks to a well-intentioned but badly-executed action, he's stuck married again, but to a fiesty, passionate woman who he grows to love hanging around and doesn't let him get away to much feeling sorry for himself.  
**

**As far as making it up to her goes - I couldn't think of anything else he could do; I felt showering her with gifts seemed tacky and too much like prostitution (here's stuff for having sex with me), though later he starts buying her thoughtful little things just because he likes that he can provide for her. So I felt there wasn't anything more he could do than say 'I'm sorry, I understand why you hate me and I hope you can forgive me someday'.**

**Anyway, enjoy the next chapter**

**-HPFG.  
**

**Chapter Five **

Lupin was far and away the most popular teacher at Hogwarts. He was among the youngest of the staff and had a common touch with his students, so despite his condition and his premature aging, many of his female students had crushes on him. Which meant that there was a lot of jealousy to be had over his marriage, jealousy that was disguised as high-and-mighty judgments.

_He's old enough to be her father._

_He really is. He's the same age as James Potter, and she's a year younger than Harry._

_Didn't you know? Harry totally ditched her. She's probably trying to get back at him. And he's so lonely, bet he just jumped at the chance for some company..._

After a few weeks of this, Ginny had come snappy and unco-operative, and Lupin was at a loss as to how to handle it. His instinct was to curse anyone nasty enough to say such a thing but he knew he had to stay out of it unless he wanted to be accused of favouritism. And it was getting close to the full moon, which meant he himself was getting irritable, and missing Tonks like crazy. He twisted his wedding ring around his finger the way he did when he started to get agitated.

It was the Friday before a Hogsmead weekend, which meant everyone was on a high and Lupin didn't try to teach them anything new; they just did some light revision. "You going to be at the Three Broomsticks this weekend, Professor Lupin?" asked Sarah Callahan, a seventh-year Ravenclaw who Lupin privately thought was coming off the worse for being in the same house as Slytherin. Though they still had four houses, they lacked the students to justify maintaining four physical houses and pulling off an extra two staff to Flitwick covered Slytherin and Ravenclaw like Sprout doubled for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Sarah had the intellect of a Ravenclaw and increasingly seemed to have the arrogance and sense of entitlement of a Slytherin – although not their pure-blood values, it seemed, because she had been flirting with Lupin all school year, and doing it with increasing openness. His marriage hadn't discouraged her, and he couldn't do anything about it until _she_ did.

"Fraid not, Sarah," Lupin said. "My mother-in-law doesn't dare show her face here at Hogwarts so as long as I stay put I don't have to deal with her wrath." Too many students had witnessed Bellatrix's murderous rampage at the Battle of Hogwarts for McGonagall to allow her younger sister who bore such a resemblance to her on the grounds. All Lupin's dealings with Andromeda took place outside of Hogwarts, and Lupin figured if he stayed at Hogwarts, that bought him as much time as he needed.

"Really?" Sarah asked slyly, glancing at his left hand to verify that he was _still_ wearing his wedding ring to his first wife – and _only_ his wedding ring to his first wife. "I always thought Molly Weasley had a vicious side to her."

There was a dead silence, and Lupin knew he'd walked into a trap and everyone was waiting to see how he responded. He quickly moved his left hand behind his back. "I meant Andromeda. Though Molly has a vicious side to her, too," he joked, trying to lighten the mood. "She killed the reason Andromeda's not allowed at Hogwarts."

"Is it true that Andromeda Tonks is the splitting image of Bellatrix?" Sarah asked, even more slyly, stressing her last name.

"I suggest you go look it up," Lupin replied.

"But this is Defence Against the _Dark Arts_," Sarah said sweetly. "And you were related to one of the most powerful Death Eaters... through marriage. Isn't that knowledge you should be sharing?"

"Tell you what... _Miss Callahan_," Lupin replied, using her formal name despite the fact he usually referred to his students by their Christian names, "I'll tell Professor Binns everything I know and he can work it into his lesson plan. And it sounds like you could do with it. You seem woefully ignorant of which Blacks were welcome within the family ranks and which weren't."

Sarah's head snapped back at his words. He had never insulted a student before, even in such an easygoing, joking manner. He had dealt with it, and made it clear that anyone who was interested in his first marriage could take it up with Professor Binns, because anything to do with the Blacks belonged firmly under the jurisdiction of the History of Magic professor, but the damage had been done.

And Ginny knew it. She hadn't liked Sarah much to begin with, and he dislike had turned to loathing since news of her marriage had gotten out. Everyone knew Sarah had the hots for Lupin, which in itself was not that unusual – a lot of girls, especially the older one, had the hots for him. Sarah had just been particularly predatory about it, going right to the edge of flirtatious, even stalker-ish behaviour without doing anything that Lupin could report her for, and as such, she had been the most nasty when their marriage had become known. But now she was taking delight in drawing attention to the fact that his first wife has been the love of his life, and he had only married his second when he'd been caught in a compromising position with her... and Lupin wasn't exactly making it hard for her. Referring to Andromeda as his mother-in-law, still wearing his ring from his marriage to Tonks – he may as well just announce to all and sundry that he didn't particularly want to be married to her and be done with it.

So she became particularly surly, argumentative and unco-operative, blithely ignoring anything Lupin told her to do. He felt his temper rising when she ignored him for the second time to stop making miniature fireworks from her desk – a trick she had no doubt learnt from one of the twins. "Ginny..." he said, and she ignored him again – and in her humiliation at the way Lupin was making no effort to hide his ongoing love for Tonks, she failed to notice that the whole class had gone quiet again. No-one wanted to miss out on the eventual confrontation between Ginny's humiliation at being treated like a secondary wife and Lupin's indignation of having his orders ignored so blatantly – something not even Draco Malfoy had dared. "Miss Weasley, _will you stop_!" he yelled at her.

It was better than anyone could have hoped; it was clear that the use of her maiden name had slipped out rather than been intentional. For a second, she had been nothing more to him than a disobedient student. "Told you he married her 'cos he had to," Sarah whispered to a friend.

"Miss Callahan, that's a detention for you!" Lupin yelled. In different circumstances, he would have been delighted to finally catch Sarah discussing his private life within his hearing, but now he knew he had lost control of the situation. "Class dismissed!" he yelled. Then quietly to Ginny, "Ginny, I'm – "

"Fuck you," she spat, plenty loud enough for everyone to hear. She threw a curse at him, which bounced off harmlessly, and there were giggled from everyone, with a comment from Sarah about how they couldn't be _that_ close if she didn't know you couldn't use any magic but healing spells against your own spouse. So she had to satisfy herself with a resounding slap that just about fractured his cheekbone before running out of the room, pushing her way blindly through the crowd of students, none of whom were willing to leave and miss out on something.

"If this room isn't cleared in thirty seconds I am giving everyone here detention... one for every second," Lupin said tiredly. His cheek stung, but it was a welcome distraction from the guilt he felt. He _hadn't_ made an effort to treat Ginny with the respect she deserved as his wife, at least in public. He had been _glad_ to treat her like a student because it meant he could go back to missing Tonks and not feel bad. He had at least owed her the odd bit of casual affection – and if he wasn't going to give her a ring, to take the one he already had off his damn finger.

He waited half an hour until he felt it was safe to leave the classroom. Thankfully, the hall was deserted; people had gotten bored of waiting. He made his way to his rooms, grateful for once that they were so close to the classrooms. "Ginny?" he asked tentatively after throwing an Impervious spell on the rooms in case anyone was lurking around – and someone _had_ to be, the exchange had been too public for the entire student population to pass on the opportunity to overhear a lover's tiff between their favourite professor and his unlikely wife. He opened the door even more tentatively. He had promised her a week ago that he would never enter the room without her permission, and he felt like he was invading her privacy now almost as much as he had that disastrous wedding night together.

She was curled up in bed in the foetal position, her body wracked with sobs. "Ginny, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"Damn straight you weren't. Remus, d'you know what people have been saying _all week_? That I did something to you to make you get involved with me and I made sure mum saw us together so you'd have to marry me."

"That's not true."

"Yeah? And why the hell shouldn't they believe it? You play with that ring like you'd rather go without clothes then without it. You talk about your mother-in-law then get confused when someone refers to mum. You talk about your _wife_ and get confused when someone refers to me. It's fucking humiliating, Remus. I knew you didn't want to marry me, but I thought that you'd at least _try_ and treat me with respect."

"I do respect you, Ginny, I – "

"Not enough goddamn much to stop carrying around your broken heart like some kind of fucking good-luck charm! God, what the _fuck_ is wrong with you, Remus? You've been playing the grieving widow bit for ten times as long as you were with her in the first place. What, do I need to _kill_ myself before you treat me with any respect."

He couldn't use magic on her, so he slapped her instead. "Don't – _ever_ – say something like that," he said. "And you knew exactly what you were getting into when you married me."

"Bet Tonks thought that, too," she jeered. "Look where that got her."

He grabbed her at that point and shook her violently. "You say something like that again and I will wring your neck and go back to enjoying my widower status," he said, putting emphasis on the _enjoying_ to make it clear that he had much preferred being Tonks's widow than he did being Ginny's husband. And with those words, he stormed out of her room.

"I'd rather have been disgraced than be your wife!" she screamed at him, then flung herself back on the bed and resumed her sobbing.

* * *

Lupin was feeling sorry for himself and working his way through a bottle of firewhisky – something he hadn't allowed himself to do in months, because as a single parent, he didn't want to not be able to deal with any situation with Teddy that might come up – when there was a knock on the door. "Great, McGonagall," he said through gritted teeth. He had never been able to address or refer to her by her Christian name; his days as a student were too ingrained in him. No doubt McGonagall had heard about how he'd allowed himself to lose control of the situation, resulting in his wife first trying to curse him and then hitting him when that didn't work.

It wasn't McGonagall. It was Sarah Callahan. "What do you want?" he asked.

She was delighted to see that he was clearly drunk. That meant he'd had a huge fight with Ginny because he was too good a parent to get drunk for no reason, and that his defences were down. "I heard you and Ginny had a fight," she said sympathetically. "Can I come in?"

He laughed rudely at her. "I'd have to be a hell of a lot more drunk than I am to let you in, _Miss Callahan_," he said. He went to shut the door in her face.

She wedged her foot in and as much as he longed to break it, he didn't try to shut the door on it. "Should you really be alone in your condition?" she asked solicitously. "With Teddy to worry about?"

"I'm not alone. My _wife_ is here." Though he felt guilty at the mention of Teddy.

"The wife who openly disobeyed you? _I_ wouldn't disobey you... Remus. At least, not unless you wanted to... not unless you wanted to punish me."

It was something he had heard a dozen times before. Women with a fetish for Dark Creatures, thinking he was a violent animal who would show them who was boss. "Go back to your dorm, Miss Callahan," he ordered her.

'Miss Callahan' did no such thing. Sarah launched herself at him and kissed him wildly. He pushed her away violently. "OK, that's it," he said, revulsion at her kiss – her aggressiveness, her bitchiness, everything about her that was Sarah Callahan – sobering him up considerably. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out the room and towards the stairs.

Sarah was only to happy to go with him, letting him drag her along – enjoying his rough handling, actually – before she realised that he was taking her back to the Ravenclaw house. She started to protest when she realised this and drag her feet in earnest; Lupin merely grabbed her by the waist and carried the rest of the way. She made such a racket that she woke up every portrait on the way, and Luna Lovegood was waiting at the open door when he got up there. Lupin stormed through the Ravenclaw house to an audience made up of most of the combined Ravenclaw-Slytherin students, all snickering that Sarah had snuck out to try and seduce Lupin, only to have him haul her up five flights of stairs and dump her at Flitwick's door. "FLITWICK!" he roared. His fury at having her come onto him hadn't abated over five flights of stairs; if anything, it had worsened.

The tiny Charms Master/Ravenclaw-Slytherin head opened his bedroom door. "You," he said accusingly, as if holding Flitwick personally responsible for Sarah's behaviour, "goddamn keep a leash on that girl. I don't recall McGonagall ever teaching us that it was fine to throw ourselves at married professors in the middle of the night, so _someone's_ dropped the ball somewhere." And he stormed out again, leaving Sarah to face Flitwick's fury and the Ravenclaw-Slytherins to gossip like maniacs.

He returned to his room to hear screaming; his first thought was one of pure panic, that something had happened to Teddy. Then he realised that they were the cries of an adult woman, not a baby boy. It was Ginny, having a nightmare. He rushed into her room. "_Fred, Fred_," she cried over and over again.

He didn't think, he just slipped into bed beside her and drew her tightly against him. "Baby, baby, it's just me," he crooned, and miraculously, she quickly quietened in his arms. "You want to talk about it?" he asked soothingly.

"Oh, Remus, it was horrible. I relive it all the time. And no-one wants to talk about it. It's like it ought to be enough that the rest of us survived and we shouldn't need to revisit it."

"I watched my wife die in front of me," he reminded her. "I've gone over it a million times in my head. I dream about it at night. A dozen instances if something had been a centimetre or a second in a different direction." He buried his face in her hair. "Darling, you can talk about it to me if it helps. Just – let me shut the door properly and bring Teddy in."

She nodded, and he slipped out of bed to secure the door and bring Teddy in. For good measure he changed into tracksuit pants and a t-shirt, because something told him he wasn't going back to his own room tonight – and it got him out of the clothes that he could have sworn stunk of Sarah. Ginny launched herself into his arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. Strange how he much preferred that to Sarah. He rubbed her back soothingly and held her in silence until she started to talk – about Fred, about how no-one wanted to talk about him and how much she missed him – and how much she missed Harry, despite the way he had treated her. "I can't believe how good we had it back then," she said after she began to calm down. "I know that sounds silly, but – "

"I know what you mean. The threat of Voldermort stabilised things. We lived in fear, but we knew what we would face each day, and fear, when you live with it for long enough, becomes something a little mundane. You know, when I was first bitten, I came to accept that I would always be a danger to people. So when Wolfsbane was invented, it was kind of scary for me to know that there were people out there who wouldn't accept a fully-fledged werewolf but might accept someone who became a harmless wolf three nights a month. And even then, I knew I couldn't live with it openly so every day when I go to teach, I wait for someone to call me a fraud... or just stick a silver blade into my ribs for daring to lay hands on a human, let alone a pureblood."

"You're not a fraud." As she said this, she snuggled deeper into his arms. At some point in her crying session, he'd taken his shirt off, thinking that burying her face against his bare skin might be therapeutic for her. And it was. "And you have as much right to be with a human as anyone else."

"My head knows that... but try telling yourself something when you've spent thirty years believing something else. It's the same for a lot of people now that Voldermort is gone. Familiarity, even one based on fear, is hard to let go of."

"When did you get so wise?" she asked.

He kissed the top of her head. He meant to leave it at that, but she smelled so good that he left his face there, inhaling her scent. "Years of practice," he said in a muffled voice.

"Remus?" she asked tentatively.

"Mmmm?"

"I'm sorry I said I'd rather be disgraced than your wife. I'm sorry I said you were a lousy husband."

"When did you say I was a lousy husband?"

"After you slammed the door."

He chuckled. "Sometimes I forget you're only seventeen. And I _have_ been a lousy husband. I haven't been fair to you. If I had my way, I'd spend the rest of my life playing the tragic widower and blathering on about my saint of a late wife."

"You should have the right to do that," she mused. "I've been so caught up in how much it sucks to be married to someone who considers himself to only have been married once that I forgot you _do_ only consider yourself to have been married once, and you have every right to think like that." Absently she traced a scar that ran along his torso. "I always thought I'd marry someone I was madly in love with – even before Harry. I knew you didn't love me, but it was harder to deal with than I thought it would be."

He kissed her again and fought the sudden urge to yank her chin up so he could kiss her mouth. "You're right, I don't love you," he admitted. "But I am awfully fond of you and I can think of far worse people to have to share my space with. And Teddy likes you, which is more important. I hope that's enough."

She thought about the people she _could_ have been forced into marriage with. He was right; it could have been far worse."It's enough," she said, and maybe his ears were deceiving him, but it sounded like it was more than enough.

_

* * *

OK, that's it, _Ginny thought. He was crying again. It was the fourth time – that she knew of – when he'd taken to sobbing when he thought she couldn't hear. He had taken the realisation that his actions had hurt and humiliated her deeply, and had swung in completely the opposite direction, limiting his grieving to his room, and only then when he thought she was asleep. He was being such a goddamn martyr. If he wanted to cry over his late wife, he had the right to do it, at least in these rooms. He was thinking too much about Ginny and how his actions affected her. Like she gave a crap that he was still grieving. It wasn't like she was interested in him, although she appreciated all the ways he had tried to make life easier for her. She was learning not to get a fright when he'd suddenly put his arm around her waist or on the small of her back because his supernatural sense of hearing had detected someone around the corner. She appreciated the way he never mentioned Harry unless she brought it up, whereas before they had married he had been upfront with the fact that Harry was more important to him than she was and she could just suck it up. He was making quite an effort to put on a facade and at the same time respect that she had wanted this marriage no more than he had.

In fact, he had probably wanted it less, because even though he had lost Tonks a fair bit before she had lost Harry, he had been married to her. He may have been widowed now almost as long as he had been married in the first place, certainly longer than he had lived with her as husband and wife, but he had the right to grieve for as long as he saw fit.

And he had the right to grieve openly, at least in the privacy of his own rooms in a front of a wife who was, at best, a friend.

And if he figured it was OK to climb into her bed in the middle of the night to comfort her, then she figured she could return the favour.

She opened the door to his bedroom. "Remus, it's only me," she called into the darkness.

"Go away."

Ignoring him, she walked over to the bed and climbed onto it. She immediately wished she'd brought her nightgown, because Lupin's higher body temperature meant that he wasn't big on covers. "If you want to cry, then cry," she admonished him gently. "I'm not insulted. But I hate that you feel you need to hide your grief from me."

"Go away," he repeated gruffly, and she could hear the tears catching in his throat. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. You've gone out of your way to makes things as easy for me as possible and you're bottling up all your emotions in the process. I really appreciate what you're doing here, but you should be able to grieve, at least here. She was your wife. You don't just get over that." Especially not when you were forced to put on a facade of being with someone else... he must feel like such a fraud, and guilty to her memory. "Come here," she said gently, drawing him into her arms with surprising strength for her small frame. He didn't protest too much, and he knew he possessed superhuman strength, so if he wasn't throwing her across the room, then there was a part of him that wanted to be comforted.

She could feel his thin frame shaking with sobs as he cried into her shoulder. "I wish it had been me who'd died in her place," he cried. "I wish I were dead and this would all be over. I've got nothing."

"That's not true, You've got Teddy. And you're a great teacher – the best we've ever had." _And you have me, if you want,_ she thought. Her friendship, of course. He was lonely and if her company could make him feel any less so, then it was the least she owed him after all he had done for her. And it wasn't like keeping him company was exactly an obligation. She rubbed her hands over his upper back. She knew he had scars the length of his body, but there was a difference between knowing that and feeling the scarred skin under her hands.

Lupin calmed a little at her touch, and distantly she realised that he wasn't used to people not reacting to his scars with horror and disgust, let alone touching him like a lover – or at least a close friend – as if the flesh was untouched. He threw his arms around her neck. "I miss her so much," he whispered hoarsely.

"I know you do." The feel of his arms around her like a frightened child was a foreign feeling to her and yet not entirely unnatural. She felt closer to her husband than she ever had before and was glad that she could provide some kind of comfort for him. "You don't have to hold it in for my sake, Remus. I know you don't love me and I know how much you loved her. I wouldn't expect any less of you than to be grieving for her – to miss her. It's not fair that you can't show that grief in public but you can show it in front of me." Impulsively, she kissed his head and could feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Please, you've done so much for me, let me do this one thing for you."

Her words seem to get through to him and for the next hour he choked out disconnected sentences about his short-lived marriage with Tonks until it seemed like some small weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he fell asleep in her arms.

* * *

"Thankyou for last night."

"You needed it." They hadn't seen each other all day and there was an awkwardness between them after dinner. "I meant what I said, Remus. I don't want you to feel like you can't grieve for her in the privacy of your own rooms. It's got to be toxic for you. You've been so good about distracting me from thinking about Harry, and that's been right for me, but I don't think being distracted works for you. I think you need to embrace your pain. Acknowledge it."

He smiled wanly at her. "When did you get so wise?" he asked.

"Five older brothers." She reached for her hand. "Anytime, I mean it. I know I'm not a real wife and I know I'm young enough to be your daughter but I still make a great mate. And everyone already thinks we spend every spare minute going at it, so no-one's going to question it if you just want some comforting company."

"I think I'd like that." He made a small, ultra-discreet motion, so discreet that few people other than Ginny would have known it was his shy, insecure way of asking her to sit in his lap. "Not many people can stand touching me," he said softly when she was settled in his arms. "I didn't realise how much I actually liked it until Tonks didn't give me much choice about it. Used to take every opportunity she could to touch me. Drove me mental at first but in the end I used to love falling asleep with her in my arms."

"You're the only one I've ever fallen asleep with, and I can't say they were terrific experiences," she said dryly. But the idea sounded appealing enough. She wondered what it would be like to be with someone who liked to just cuddle. She'd never had an issue with the fact that all her boyfriends had been very 'hands-on'. And yet what Lupin was describing sounded lovely.

"Remind me to rectify that." He brought his hands up to her shoulders. "Do you mind?" he asked. She shook her head. "Is that a no you don't mind or no you don't want me to?" he asked.

For someone who had proved so good at understanding his young students and drawing them out, he was pretty bad at reading his own young wife. "It's a 'no I don't mind', Remus," she said, and he gently started rubbing her shoulders. She leaned her head back against his chest. "That feels good," she said. "I could get used to this." There were certainly _some_ benefits to having a husband who had zero sexual interest in her.

He kept it up, fifteen minutes later asking casually, "Do you have any plans for Christmas? The Burrow, perhaps?"

"I'm not going to see her, Remus," Ginny said, her voice going cold and her body tensing up.

"For someone who went through what she did so as not to be excommunicated from the family, you're not that keen to see them," Lupin commented.

"I'll see my brothers. I won't see her." The truth was, she _did_ miss her family – or at least, her brothers and, occasionally, her father – but she held her mother responsible for the humiliation of her wedding night and her husband's initial poor treatment of her that he was only just learning to rectify. Molly had known exactly what she was setting her only daughter up for; a humiliating wedding night which had to be done at the hands of a man who was deeply in love with another woman and deeply grieving for her, followed by a humiliating first few weeks because he was too deep in his grief to realise what his actions were doing to his new wife.

She didn't blame her husband for wanting to be left alone to grieve for the only woman he would ever consider a wife. She blamed her husband for insisting that he marry her in spite of this.

"I thought you'd say that. I'm going to Bulgaria for some research. You know where that is?" She shook her head. "It's directly south of Romania. I figured if you wanted to come with me, we could make a side trip to see Charlie."

Her eyes went wide at the prospect and she twisted around awkwardly to face him. "Are you serious?" she asked. She wasn't sure what excited her more – the idea of seeing Charlie or the idea of travelling to such an exotic country – no, _two_ exotic countries. Well, she'd made it to Egypt, but she had been twelve, and that had been with her family – including two parents and six brothers determined not to let her have any fun. This would be when she was seventeen, and with a husband who trusted her own judgement when it came to dangerous situations much more than her family did.

"Well, I can't exactly leave you here if you don't want to go to the Burrow," he said. "Imagine how people would talk. Besides, I could do with the company."

"Oh, wow – Bulgaria – Romania – Charlie," she said. "This is, like, the _best_ thing ever."

He smiled indulgently at that. Sometimes, she sounded like an excited seventeen-year-old.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

"You cannot take my daughter to Romania!" Molly Weasley screamed at her son-in-law.

"I think you'll find there's a hell of a lot I can do when it comes to my _wife_," Lupin said with cool firmness, abandoning his usual easygoing diplomacy. Molly didn't want diplomacy from him, she wanted him to disappear from her view and pretend like he wasn't married to her only daughter. "She wants to go. I gave her a choice between staying here, going to the Burrow and coming with me. I've never seen her make a decision so quickly – or been so happy about it," he couldn't resist jabbing, given how miserable she had been when she had agreed to marry her.

"You can't keep her from me," Molly said, a little less angry and a little more pleading this time.

"I'm not keeping anyone from anyone, Molly," Lupin replied. "I asked her if she wanted to go to the Burrow. It was the first thing I suggested. Believe me, I _want_ her to reconcile with you. I've got no family other then Teddy, I understand the value of it. But I can't make her stop hating you and I won't jeapordise my relationship with her trying."

"Relationship?" Molly asked, reverted back to her anger. "You said it would only be the one time!"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Molly. I haven't touched her – not in that way. I like having her around. Would you rather I couldn't stand her?"

"Of course not."

"Then shut the hell up. _You_ insisted on this marriage, Molly. You don't get to turn around now and complain that your daughter wants nothing to do with you. I'm taking my wife to Bulgaria and Romania with me because it's what she wants. What she _doesn't_ want is to see you. "

"Remus, please – "

"I told you, I won't jeapordise my relationship with her trying to make her change her mind. She hates you, and I don't blame her. She had a pretty bad time of it the first few weeks."

"Which _you_ did to her!"

"Which _you_ made me do. She's not stupid, she knows I didn't want to marry her anymore than she wanted to marry me. She knows I wanted to be left in peace to grieve for Tonks. And she knows you knew that. You've got no-one but yourself to blame for what's happened."

* * *

"He's grown so much," Harry mused over Teddy.

"He's at that age where a week equals another centimetre," Lupin said. "But that's not why you're here, is it?" He'd been wondering who Molly would send as her ambassador and wasn't particularly surprised that it had been Harry. The boy had been his favourite student – though a teacher is always loathe to admit that they have a favourite – well, second favourite now that he had Ginny. He found his thoughts drifting and realised that he was smiling to think about her.

Harry realised Lupin was thinking about Ginny – his ex-girlfriend – now his former Professor's wife. He felt a little uncomfortable. He had heard the news through Ron, who had heard it from George, and therefor had been convinced it was just one of George's practical jokes. He'd actually been surprised that he hadn't heard from Neville, because Neville got all his Hogwarts information from Luna, and regardless of her battiness, Luna could be relied on to report news exactly how she saw it. He knew he had no claim to Ginny, but it still felt weird. So he had been reluctant when Molly had approached him, begging him to intercede and encourage Lupin to encourage Ginny to return to the Burrow for Christmas, but Molly had sincerely believed that Harry was capable of talking them both around.

"Molly wants Ginny home for Christmas," Harry said needlessly. No point in being diplomatic about it.

"Molly can want it for all she likes. I won't make my wife do something she doesn't want to do." Lupin stressed the word _wife_ deliberately.

"What did you do that makes Ginny hate her so much?" Harry asked tentatively. "I mean – if what I hear is true, then –"

"Harry, I'm going to tell you two things, and I'm only going to tell you once. _One_, keep your nose out of my goddamn marriage. _Two_, you forfeited the right to have any say in Ginny's life when you slept with Cho Chang." Harry's head snapped back as if Lupin had struck him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so harsh. But she _is_ my wife. She's entitled to my loyalty and support – more than anyone else."

"Even Teddy's godfather?" Harry asked.

"I don't want this to affect your relationship with Teddy – or my relationship with you," he started. "But yes, even you. If you don't want to take Teddy over Christmas, that's fine. There's practically a queue of staff at Hogwarts to look after him."

"I didn't say I didn't want to be Teddy's godfather anymore! It's just – this is such a surprise and, well, it takes some getting used to. I know I don't have any say in her life, I wasn't presuming that I did. If you don't want to talk about Ginny, then we won't. Just tell me one thing – is she happy?"

She and Harry had a lot more intimate a history, had done a lot more together, had shared the kind of closeness that a couple _ought_ to. And yet she knew that they had something that she hadn't had with Harry. He knew she enjoyed spending time with her, and knew he could offer her the wisdom and maturity that she seemed to crave – and that, understandably, was lacking in her peers... including Harry. He wasn't suitable husband material but he made a good friend and mentor.

"Yeah," he said honestly. "She is."

* * *

"He says she's happy and honestly, I believe him," Harry reported to Molly. "To be honest, I can totally see her with someone older." Maybe it was the six older brothers, maybe it was watching her brother die, but there had been something about Ginny that Harry had felt wasn't entirely there – as if she was withholding, not entirely in sync with him. Maybe an older man was what she needed.

Molly was crestfallen that what she had thought would be such a strong ally had folded so easily. "She should be with her family for Christmas," she repeated stubbornly.

"He's her husband, that makes him her immediate family – despite what her mother may think," Harry pointed out. "He has a right to want her to be with him when he travels – or over Christmas." That it happened to be both made Harry wonder why Molly was so insistent that Ginny come to the Burrow for Christmas. "I know you insisted they get married, but I'm not sure what you expected. That, what, he takes her on as a housemate and sends her home whenever you ask?"

_Yes_, Molly thought, remarkably sullen for a middle-aged woman. _That's exactly what I expected_.

* * *

"How are you liking Romania?" Charlie asked her, not needing an answer. His kid sister was glowing from the excitement of being abroad. He doubted Africa compared – a tame holiday as a twelve-year-old under their parent's watchful, overprotective supervision, versus being seventeen under the guiding eye, rather than supervision, of a husband who encouraged her to be an adult and knew more than anyone else Charlie knew about the edgier side of the magical community.

"It's great," Ginny enthused. "Remus is almost as protective as mum, though."

Charlie laughed at that. "I can't actually blame him for that, Gin. There are far more dangerous things here than in England. His ability as a wizard is well known, particularly when it comes to DADA, and werewolves are notoriously possessive. S'long as he makes it clear that you're his girl, no-one's going to touch you. They're too afraid."

"Really?" Ginny asked. When Charlie put it like _that_, she quite liked being under the protection of a powerful, possessive wizard in such a dangerous place. It was _way_ different to her mum hovering over her and not letting her have any fun.

And Lupin let her have plenty of fun. He had a knack of making education enjoyable. She's been so jealous that Hermione got to go skiing in Switzerland with her parents – just wait until people heard about _this_.

He took her out one afternoon to watch Charlie handle dragons. "He's so brave," she marvelled. "I don't think I could work with Dark Creatures every day."

"Dragons aren't Dark Creatures, love," Lupin corrected her gently. She was sitting between his legs, his arms wrapped around her waist. They had shared a much closer physical intimacy since they had taken to sharing their grief with one another, and as far as everyone else was concerned, it added to the impression that they were an affection, very-much-in-love couple. "They're Dangerous Creatures."

"What's the difference?"

"Dangerous Creatures lack the intelligence to plan how to inflict pain, humiliation and the like on other creatures," Lupin explained. "A dragon might kill you for food or just because you're in is way – a dragon can whip its tail back with enough force to kill a human – but it doesn't kill for pleasure. A Death Eater, however, has the intellect to be aware that they're inflicting pain, and enjoy it, and plan it. Both can kill and cause pain, but Dangerous Creatures don't plan to."

"So then... werewolves would be Dangerous Creatures then?" she asked, because Lupin was the only werewolf she had known and he was also one of the most gentle, most considerate people she had known – whatever he might insist to the contrary.

He chuckled at that and kissed the top of her head. "Not quite, love," he said, although he appreciated the sentiment. "Werewolves can be pretty vicious, and they certainly have the intelligence to be Dark Creatures. I have no idea how much of an anomaly I am and how much it was just being raised by humans, but most werewolves aren't like me. Most can be pretty vicious. And even me – there's this part of me that gets really possessive about what's mine. It's why I don't like many people handling Teddy."

"You don't mind _me_ handling him," Ginny remarked.

"That's because you're kind of mine, too," he said. Or at least, that's what she thought he said. It was difficult to say when his mouth was muffled in her hair like that.

"You guys are _so_ good together," Charlie remarked late than evening when sleep had gotten the better of Ginny and she'd given up on staying up with her husband and brother to drink firewhisky with them and listen to their conversation about Grown Men's Stuff. "I don't remember ever seeing her that vibrant, even before Fred died."

Lupin rolled his eyes. "I'm glad _someone_ can say it," he said. "Your family about Fred is almost as bad as people were about Voldermort."

"Mum thinks – "

"Yeah, I know you're mum thinks it's enough that you all survived. The amount of students I get who need to talk to someone who lost someone tells me otherwise. I swear some days I do more counselling than I do teaching. She needed to talk about it, desperately." He kept to himself that she had also needed to talk about Harry, like he had needed to talk about Tonks.

Charlie nodded. "I don't agree with mum's attitude – it might be her way, but it's not everyone's way... in fact, I doubt that it's _many_ people's way. And whatever you've been doing with her, she looks terrific. I approve," he said in a casual, friendly way that made it clear he knew Lupin didn't actually need his approval – but thought he might throw it in anyway.

"Thankyou. That means a lot to me. We've attracted a fair bit of criticism."

"Mainly from mum, you mean?" Charlie asked. "Look, can I ask you something? Why are you and Ginny so angry towards her? Well, Gin in particular. I know you didn't want to get married, but you don't seem to have come out of it badly, now, have you?" Lupin shook his head slightly. Actually, he was beginning to forget what life had been like before he'd been forced to take on Ginny. "Look, I get the feeling this grudge you hold against mum is more on her side than yours. I guess it's a teenager thing. But _please_ won't you try and talk her into seeing mum. She misses her, she cries about it, even though she pretends like she doesn't. Please, Remus – I'm trying to appeal to your better nature here. She's already lost a child. I know she shouldn't have bullied you into marriage, but you both seem much happier for it, so isn't it time you made nice with her?"

"I'll talk to her – but I won't do anything she doesn't want to. You don't know the full story, Charlie, and Molly does. _Maybe_ for Easter. If she's OK with the idea. But I'm telling you the same thing I told your mother – I won't jeapordise my relationship with her over it."

A little while later, he slid into bed next to her. Naturally, it hadn't occurred to Charlie to provide them with more than one bed, and Ginny wouldn't hear of him taking the couch. They had both come to enjoy physical affection – even if it was platonic, even emotional, but not sexual or romantic. "What did you talk about?" she murmured sleepily.

"Mostly Dark and Dangerous creatures," he said, curling up against her. "You would have gotten bored soon enough." Especially since Charlie didn't have the teacher's knack of explaining things in a way that was understandable without being condescending. "He said your mum's really upset. Said she cries when she thinks no-one's looking."

"Sounds like her son-in-law," Ginny retorted good-naturedly, suddenly alert, and Lupin knew it wasn't entirely at the thrill of a battle of wits with him.

"She misses you."

"She should have thought of that when she made us get married."

"Gin, if you don't want to see her, then I'm not going to make you. But you can't hate her forever. Did I ever tell you that my parents died in the First War?" he asked. She shook her head against his chest. "Well, they did. The last time I saw them was on good terms, thankgod, but seeing what you're going through with your mum's made me think about it. Anything could happen, even in these days – hell, the Longbottoms were tortured _after_ Voldermort was first vanquished. You don't know how much time you have, and even if you do make up, you don't want to look back and think about all the time you could have had."

There was a sad tone to his voice and she knew that he was thinking about Tonks, and the three years he could have had with her instead of a few months. He could take comfort out of the fact that they had reconciled when she died, and that she had died knowing that he loved her and wanted to be with her, but it would be a long time, if ever, before he forgave himself for all that lost time. "Maybe at Easter," she offered grudgingly.

He chuckled at that. "That's what I told Charlie."

"Great minds think alike."

"Something like that." And he found that he wasn't think of Tonks anymore, but how Ginny's body seemed to fit perfectly into his and the way she idly traced the scars on his hands like that were roadmaps on his body and not something to be disgusted by.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ginny, get out of here. I told you not to come here when it's the full moon."

"You need to get out more, Remus," Ginny teased him. "It's broad daylight."

He frowned at her. "You know what I mean. Seventy-two hours. Go away. I'm tired and cranky."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Same as I always do on a full moon. Like shit." He rotated his shoulders painfully, and rather than obeying him and going away, Ginny stepped into the room and behind him. "Ah, don't touch me," he said testily when she put her hands on his sore shoulder.

"I think I know what wrong, it's a common Quiddich injury. This will hardly hurt," she said pleasantly, and proceeded to push his shoulder back into place.

He screamed. "Fuck! Shit, that _hurt_. You bitch, is that your idea of getting back at me for not using magic?"

"How does your shoulder feel?" she asked pleasantly.

He rotated it gingerly. Despite the screaming pain from his shoulder be pushed back into its socket, it actually felt pretty damn good. "S'okay," he mumbled.

"You've probably been dislocating it in your sleep for years and your healing abilities took care of it before you saw a Healer about it," she said.

"Thanks, now go away," he mumbled, but her hands were already on his shoulders, her fingers digging into his aching muscles. "Ginny, I mean it. I don't want you around at the full moon."

"What are you going to do, drag me kicking and screaming up five flights of stairs?" she asked pleasantly, almost flirtatiously. Ever since Lupin had been making more of an effort to treat her with the respect she deserved as his wife – even in name only – she had been near-unflappable, even when Sarah Callahan tried her hardest. "You're tense. You know, I can help you with that. We get so many injuries on the Quiddich and people say I have gentle hands."

"I find that hard to believe," Lupin grunted. "Ginny, _please go_. This place goes into lockdown at four."

"Then I'll be out of here by three-thirty," she said calmly. "It's only midday."

He muttered something under his breath about marrying Blacks. "I'll talk to Sprout. _If_ it's OK and _if_ she agrees to have someone come down here if you don't show up back at the dorm, then you can stay." Brushing off Ginny's hands, he went to the fireplace and threw some powder in. He was chatting to Professor Sprout in seconds. "Ginny wants to stay until half three. Lockdown's at four so if it's alright with you, I want you to send someone down here to get her if she's not up there by half past." Sprout agreed. "Fine, you can stay," Lupin said, trying his best to sound unhappy about it although he quiet liked the idea of Ginny's presence. Though he felt it was for the best, he was always starved for company over the full moon. "But you'd better be in the common room at three-thirty on the dot or I'll never let you stay again."

_Never let me stay again? It's my place, too_, Ginny thought. Not even one full moon and she was already sick of Lupin's over-protective attitude when it came to his lycanthropy. "But that means I have to leave here at quarter past," she complained. "Three-thirty," she countered.

"Three-thirty," he agreed pleasantly. "In the common room, on the dot. That's my deal. Take it or leave it."

"Fine, I'll take it – but you take your shirt off and let me give you a proper backrub."

He thought about arguing with her but decided not to press his luck after she had folded so quickly regarding when she left. Walking into his bedroom, he stripped off his shirt as he went. He sat on the bed, pulling his knees up into a crouching position. She sat behind him and began rubbing his shoulders. "You must be so sore," she murmured sympathetically when she felt how knotted the muscles in his shoulders and back were – and she suspected he was like that the whole way through his body. "No wonder you get so grumpy every month."

"I do not get grumpy! Oh, that feels good."

"I've barely started."

"No, whatever you're doing with your hair."

Ginny was glad that Lupin had his back to her so he couldn't see her face go as red as her hair. Her hair was loose and had brushed against his back. Her first thought was to quickly tie it back and then she realised he hadn't meant it in a sexual way. So she continued with what she was doing, and felt the sore, knotted muscles loosen under her touch. "I can see why they like you on the team," he said, sliding down to a lying position.

She placed a pillow on her lap and eased his head onto it. "Pity I'm not a real wife or I'd do your legs for you," she found herself saying. It was easy to spurt banter like that when his head was facing away from her. She stroked his hair, her nails scraping gently against his scalp, and he murmured appreciatively at it. She could feel the heat radiating from his skin and found it somehow reassuring, despite it being unnatural – at least, human unnatural.

"Pity," he agreed sleepily. "Don't stop, love," he murmured when she paused to shift her weight around.

"I'm not," she said. He rubbed his head against the pillow as if trying to rub against her and purred contentedly when she went back to stroking his hair. She laughed to herself to feel himself falling asleep, his head in her lap, a werewolf purring contentedly like a domesticated cat as he fell asleep in her arms.

It was three when she knew that he was fast asleep, and she eased himself out from under him. He responded by wrapping his arms around the pillow and she thought she heard him mumble her name, but it was hard to tell from the way his face was buried in the pillow. Quietly, she crept out the door and headed back to the Gryffindor rooms well before lockdown.

* * *

"You look... relaxed," Harry commented. "You're always so grumpy around the full moon. Ginny treating you well?"

Lupin fought the urge to shove his hands in his pockets and blush like a guilty schoolboy. "She's, um, good with her hands. Not in that way!" he protested when Harry gave him a knowing look, now feeling very much the guilty schoolboy. "Apparently I've been dislocating my shoulder for years and not knowing it. Least so she thinks." He thought about how well he had slept the last two nights, with Ginny there to rub his back and stroke his hair until he felt into a very relaxed sleep. He had loved Tonks, but she had never been able to make him relax like that. "Harry, don't look at me like that," he said, when he found himself blushing to realise he'd been comparing Ginny favourable to his wife.

"Like what?" Harry asked, feigning innocence.

"Like I'm a dirty old man getting his rocks off with someone young enough to be his daughter."

"I was actually thinking that I bet you're not exactly sorry Molly made you marry her."

"Not exactly," Lupin agreed, and found himself actually _meaning_ them. "I'm glad you and I could be cool about this," he admitted. "I wanted you to keep being Teddy's godfather."

"Give up Teddy? Over someone who has every right to see whoever she wants? As if," Harry scoffed. "You were totally right. I had no say in what she did – and you had every right to have her with you over Christmas. Sometimes I don't understand what's going through Molly's mind. I mean, I get that she's an over-protective mum, she's always been like that – but she's having a much harder time letting go of Ginny that anyone else."

"She's her youngest," Lupin said vaguely. "And she wasn't happy about it."

"She made you get married!"

"Still wasn't happy about it," Lupin said. "She hasn't acted the best over it, but I can actually understand where she's coming from."

"She has quite an advocate in you," Harry said in awe. "I don't think I'd be so tolerant if I were you."

Lupin shrugged. "I don't want her to stay on the outs with her parents. Molly shouldn't have done what she did, but at the end of the day, she did it out of a somewhat misplaced sense of parental love. It's not like she was throwing her to the wolves – so to speak. Ginny doesn't want to look back and be sorry she spent all this time on the outs with her mother."

Sometimes Harry forgot that Lupin had lost his own parents in the First War. "I almost forgot, I got something for you," he said, pulling out a small box. "They weren't expensive so don't start banging on about what you owe me, but I think it will do her the world of good to have something to flash around. And from what I understand, convention allows for you to wear two wedding rings – your current one on your left hand, obviously, and the first one on your right. But don't quote me on that." Since there was no divorce in the magical community – only annulment, in rare circumstances which meant the marriage had never existed – second marriage were unusual on account that marriages only ended in death, although there would no doubt be a spike in the next few years.

Lupin stared at the two rings Harry had bought. "This really is too much," he said. "I can't afford this kind of stuff."

"It's actually just really nice costume jewellery," Harry explained with a grin. "Sarah won't be able to tell the difference."

"I – thankyou," he said. "I'll make sure Ginny knows what a lovely gesture this is."

"Do yourself a favour, let her think that you thought of it yourself," Harry suggested. "I don't think I'm very high in her favour right now. I hurt her pretty badly."

Lupin thought about how he enjoyed being with her, and how he thought she enjoyed being with him, and thought that maybe Harry wasn't as low in Ginny's books as he thought he was, because she wasn't dwelling on him the way she once had – certainly, she wasn't making any treks to Hagrid's cabin to cry by herself.

Harry lingered for a while longer before leaving Lupin with his son. He recounted the event to Ginny when her classes were over at the end of the day, and took note of the fact that she expressed idle interest, but didn't seem particularly upset at the mention of him – certainly a far cry from when she had become surly when realising Lupin still kept in frequent contact with Harry. "I have something for you," he said. "Actually, Harry had something for you. Seems he heard about Sarah and the ring thing so he got us these." He was sitting slightly behind Ginny, her back resting against his chest and her head against his shoulder, and pulled out the box. "He assures me that it's just high-quality costume stuff but he got you the most ostentatious thing he could find so you could flash it in front of Sarah's nose."

Ginny's eyes widened at the ring, glittering with cubic zirconias coloured to imitate diamonds and rubies, so glittering, in fact, that it did indeed look ostentatious and Sarah would indeed be jealous. "Remus, I – "

"And I've been told that I can wear both rings – Tonks's on my right hand and yours – well, you know what I mean." He picked up her left hand with his and singled out her ring finger. "Do you want it?" he asked.

Ginny's breath caught in her throat. It had been Harry's idea, but she shoved that thought at the back of her mind. "Yeah," she said shyly. "You know how wedding rings work?" he asked casually. She shook her head. "Magical ones, I mean – they fit themselves to their owner and won't refit themselves until the owner dies. See?" he asked when she felt the ring tighten slightly around her finger. She nodded, feeling light-headed with wonderment.

"Can I –?" she asked, squeezing his own hand to indicate the lack of ring on it. "I mean – if you're OK with it."

"Yeah," he said, slipping his old ring on his right hand discreetly. He splayed the fingers on his left hand so she could slip the ring on his finger.

"How does it feel?" she asked after the ring fitted itself to his finger.

"Strange," he admitted. "But – not like I'm cheating on her," he amended. "I guess even though I knew there would be a lot of casualties, I thought I'd be wearing it for the rest of my life. This is the first time it's really sunk in that it's over."

"Remus, I didn't mean to – "

"You haven't upset me, love." He kissed the top of her head. "If anything, you've helped me. I would have spent the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself and drowning my sorrows. You – give me something to look forward to. I like having you around. I mean, I _really_ like having you around, Ginny."

He twisted around so she could look up at him. There was an intense look in his eyes that made her shiver. He wanted her. She was used to boys wanting her, but – they had only been boys. Lupin was a man. "Remus," she said huskily, and she reached up to run her fingers through her hair. He twisted around slightly so he could push her down into the mattress and leaned in to kiss her...

Teddy started to cry. Lupin lost his balance and fell on the floor. "Ow, _shit_," he cried, thinking that maybe it was a good thing that Teddy had started to cry. "Sorry, love, I have to get him." Ginny nodded, knowing perfectly well that now that the moment was broken, Lupin would take a step back from their close relationship. _Lousy step-son_, she thought, resenting him deeply for his timing.

* * *

Ginny cried out when Lupin pressed his fingers too hard into a particularly nasty bruise. "Sorry," he said. "But you really should go to Pomfrey." He was doing his best to heal a series of bruises and fractures because she wouldn't go to Pomfrey and admit the extent of her injuries.

"I can't. She'll want to know how I got them."

"And you tell her the Ravenclaw Beater is gunning for you," he said calmly.

"I can't, Remus. Do you know how it will sound?"

"Like she's a jealous cow gunning for you."

She grunted when Lupin dug his fingers into her back, convinced he was doing it deliberately. He had made it clear that he thought Quidditch was a dangerous game played by fools, and that she was even bigger a fool for letting Sarah Callahan get away with her vicious behaviour in retaliation for her marriage. "Sorry," he said contritely. He _was_ deliberately being rougher than he needed to be to try and convince her that her injuries were worse than she made out. "I just _hate_ seeing you hurt."

"It's a hazard of the game, Remus."

"Fine, then I at least want you wearing extra safety gear."

"You can't dictate what I do, Remus," she said.

He stopped what he was doing, although he didn't remove his hands from under her shirt. "I think you'll find I can," he said with deceptive casualness. "It's part of the conjugal rights laws." In desperation, he had looked up everything he could to find something that gave him leverage over Ginny, and had found it in the conjugal rights laws; if her injuries put a dampener on their sex life, then he was legally able to put a stop to it. That their sex life didn't exist was a moot point, he still had the right to put a stop to her Quidditch playing in light of how badly she was injured Every. Single. Game.

"You can't make me give up Quidditch!" she just about screamed at him.

She attempted to twist out of his grip, but he held her firmly. "I'm not asking you to give up Quidditch, Gin, I'm asking you to wear more safety gear. It kills me to see you come back to me after every match looking like you've been run over by a Hippogriff."

His voice was shaking when he said this, and she realised how concerned he actually was. "OK, fine," she agreed grudgingly, as if _she_ were doing _him_ a favour, when she knew in reality that if it came to it, he really would make her give it up. "Sorry, I don't mean to sound like a brat. I know you care about me."

He resumed rubbing her back under her shirt, this time far more gently. "I would have thought that was pretty obvious," he said huskily. He felt Ginny relax back against him for a few seconds, then stiffen again. He looked up. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked Jeff Adams. Lupin didn't particularly like Jeff. He was an ex of Ginny's and Lupin tried to justify that that had nothing to do with it, and that Jeff just wasn't a nice guy. Ginny had said they had met in Dumbledore's Army and dated for a few weeks before she had refused to go out with him again. _He was pushing, controlling and insecure that I was a better witch than he was a wizard_, she had told Lupin. "More to the point, how the hell did you get _in_?" With that old, familiar feeling of a schoolboy being caught out, Lupin dropped his hands out from under Ginny's shirt. Even though he hadn't been doing anything wrong. It was just a _backrub_. And she was his _wife_. So why was Jeff looking at him like that, then?

"Through the door," Jeff said sullenly.

"_The door_ is sealed," Lupin said irritably. "Not with anything worthy of Severus Snape, mind you, but I figured I could trust my students. Look like I was wrong." It disconcerted him hugely to think that Jeff had just walked in here – albeit after disarming the sealing charm on the door. "What do you want?"

"Professor Sprout sent me to get Ginny. She wants all the Prefects and Heads for a meeting."

"She would have contacted me if that were true," Lupin said coldly, knowing even as he spoke that he tended to keep his Floo dismantled; too many angry parents had tried to contact him to abuse him over his marriage. "Well, there's an easy enough way to settle this." He walked over, switched it back to operational, and contacted Professor Sprout.

"Remus, it's one thing to force the entire staff to have to come down if they want to contact _you_, it's another when you force us to do it for a student," Sprout said irritably when Lupin contacted her. "I need to be able to get hold of Ginny at all times."

"Sorry, I'll reconnect it properly," Lupin said. "Gin, you, it seems, have a Prefects and Heads meeting." He fought the urge to go over and kiss Ginny passionately. Jeff was making him feel like they were in some kind of competition...

... "I can't believe the way he had his hands on you," Jeff complained when he and Ginny became the long walk back from the basement where Lupin's rooms were to the Gryffindor house. "It's disgusting."

"He's my _husband_, he does a lot more than that," Ginny retorted, thinking that it sounded like Jeff had put a hell of a lot of thought into her and Lupin for something he found disgusting.

"Never thought you liked being touched much, anyway," Jeff said nastily.

She smiled sweetly at him. "It wasn't that I didn't like being touch, Jeff, it was that I didn't like being touched by someone who was too selfish to give a damn about my pleasure."

... "It was creepy," Ginny said afterwards. "It was like he couldn't stand the fact I'd rather be with you."

"Can't say I blame him, love. _I'd_ be pretty pissed if I dated someone who turned around and married someone old enough to be their father. And a werewolf, no less."

"It was three years ago!"

"I'm not saying he's in the right, Gin, just that I can sort of understand the way he feels."

"Well, I don't. He makes me feel..." she trailed off, realising that maybe she had said too much.

"Makes you feel what?" he asked, his hands resting casually on her shoulders in a way that she knew meant anything _but_ casual interest. "Makes you feel _what_, Gin?" he pressed, remembering the way Jeff had looked at him, so resentfully.

"I can't explain it exactly! But when he said it's disgusting – you and I – it sounded like he'd given it a great deal of thought, and he wished it was him." Actually, it had felt more like he would have pulled her into a deserted room and done the things he claimed were disgusting if he'd thought he could get away with it... Ginny didn't dare say that. Nor did she say how Jeff had constantly tried to touch her to a point Sprout had given him a cold look and he had desisted. Lupin growled; he couldn't help himself. "Don't be like that," she pleaded.

"You're my _wife_. We _both_ deserve more respect than to have him look at you like a piece of meat."

"Well, I'm not really – "

"_He_ doesn't know that. Which means that he's treating us both with disrespect. You might be willing to just accept that, but I won't." And more to the point, he wouldn't have some possessive sleaze like Jeff Adams talking to Ginny like that.

* * *

"So what you're saying is her ex-boyfriend is still attracted to her and wonders why she's married to someone old enough to be her father as well as being a werewolf?" McGonagall summed up the situation. "Remus, you know perfectly well that I can't do anything if _she_ doesn't make a complaint. Until then, do you know what you sound like? A jealous husband."

"He disarmed my shield spell!" Lupin said indignantly.

"After you made it impossible for Ginny's Head of House – or any other member of staff, for that matter – to contact her when you disconnected your Floo," McGonagall pointed out patiently. "What were you doing that made him act like that, anyway?"

"Just rubbing her back," Lupin nodded.

"Was her shirt off?"

"No," he said. His hands _under_ her shirt didn't count, did they?

McGonagall sighed. "You can't expect the entire student body to be completely accepting of your marriage – especially not an ex of Ginny's. Not everyone is Harry," she reminded him. "Adams shouldn't have just waltzed in, but I don't exactly blame for being a little put out."

"I – can – do – what – I – like – in – my – rooms – without – being – judged!" Lupin said indignantly. "Or else, I should be able to."

"I suggest you never let Molly Weasley hear you say that," McGonagall said dryly. "Look, I'll talk to Adams, make it clear that he is never to go into your rooms uninvited again," she offered as a compromised. "But the rest? You're going to have to get used to . I don't know why you're so worked up over it, anyway. It's not like she's your _real_ wife."


	8. Chapter 8

"Remus! Oi, _REMUS!_" Lupin stopped when he heard his brother-in-law George yelling his name. _Of course_, he thought. He had almost forgotten that George owned a joke shop here in Diagon Alley. Actually, he wouldn't have been that surprised to hear that George had decided not to continue on with the venture following his twin's death – it had been a dream of theirs for years, so what did it make it now, half a dream? Nonetheless, George Weasley was in Diagon Alley and calling his name and actually sounding pleased to see him. "I had no idea you were going to be in London," George said, catching up to his brother-in-law. "I would have made plans to catch up with you if I had."

"It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision," Lupin explained. "It's a Hogsmead weekend so Ginny's off doing something with Luna, and I thought it was about time I picked her up some things, it's really not appropriate for a Professor's wife to have so many hand-me downs – especially from brothers... sorry," he added, remembering how touchy the Weasley pride was when it came to their modest finances; as touchy as his own had been, come to think.

"No offense taken," George said cheerfully. "You're about the only person Ginny _would_ take stuff from. Harry offered for years to give Ron stuff and he refused at every turn. But she can't exactly refuse her husband – especially since, as you pointed out, it looks bad for a Professor's wife to have hand-me-downs. I actually bought her some dress robes as a belated wedding gift but it's been so hectic at the store that I haven't had time to take them to her yet. Do you mind – "

"Of course not," Lupin said, glad that George had thought of dress robes, because _he_ hadn't.

"Care for a drink?" George asked. Lupin nodded, and the two men found themselves in the Leaky Cauldron.

"Er – sorry you didn't hear about the marriage until after it happened," he said, figuring he may as well bring up the elephant in the room first up.

"No biggie. I understand there was some sort of scandal involved," George said, entirely nonplussed that his sister had married their former – and for Ginny, her _current_ – Professor who was old enough to be their father, and done it on the sly.

"You seem rather, well, _not_ disapproving," Lupin said in surprise, bringing to mind how hateful Molly had been towards him over it.

George shrugged. "Ginny's an old soul. I always figure she'd marry someone at least Bill's age. I'm fond of Harry, but I don't think they were right for each other – at least not at this point in time. _You_ I was a little more surprised at. I took you as someone who would embrace widowhood for the rest of his life."

Lupin grinned wryly at that; it was exactly how he had pegged himself. "Well, things change," he said.

"Yeah," George agreed, thinking about just how _much_ had changed in the last year. "They do." The two men chatted amiably over a drink. "You and Gin really should come to London sometime. I understand she's not really on speaking terms with mum at the moment – " he looked hopefully at Lupin, who shook his head slightly; if he wanted the dirt of why Ginny wasn't on speaking terms with her mother, he could take that up with either Ginny or Molly, " – but I'd really love to see more of you guys. Actually, I'd really love to see _anything_ of you guys."

"That sounds nice," Lupin said, meaning it. Ginny may have issues with her mother that would take Merlin knew how long to resolve, but she had always had a close, if somewhat tempestuous, relationship with her brothers and he wanted her to hold onto that.

"Gin, I'm back," he called when he let him and Teddy in the front door of their rooms. He followed the scent of lilacs into the kitchen. "I saw George today," he informed her, giving her a brief run-down of what had happened. "I think we should at least go see him in the Easter break."

"I'd like that," she said. It was funny how she had married Lupin so her mother wouldn't disown her, but in the interim, she hadn't actually _seen_ any of her family. Somehow, he was taking up all her free time, and she didn't exactly mind.

Sensing her thoughts, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed the top of her head. "I know how you feel about your mother, but you're still allowed to miss your family," he told her, but he didn't push it with any follow-up comments. Instead, he looked at the Potions formulas she was studying. "Ugh, that was always a weak subject for me. I could learnt them by rote easy enough, but ask me how this and that combine to create what have you and I feel like tearing my hair out. I think if it hadn't been for how much he adored Lily and her devotion to our friendship, Slughorn would have thrown me out of his class."

"Slughorn's still better than Snape," Ginny pointed out.

He chuckled softly. "True," he agreed. "But forget that for a bit, I have some things for you." He took her hand and, carrying various bags in his free hand, led her to his bedroom where there was a full-length mirror. "Close your eyes and hold out your arms at your sides," he directed her. She did so, wondering what he was up to as he draped something over her and threaded her arms through it. "OK, you can open," he said.

She opened her eyes to be met by her reflection wearing brand-new Gryffindor robes that fitted her perfectly. "Oh, good, I sort of had to guess at your size," he said, relieved.

"Remus, I can't accept these," Ginny said quietly, feeling the embarrassment as she had to explain even as she loved everything about the robes – the vibrant, freshly-dyed colours, the smooth, new feel of something that hadn't been frayed, darned or patched. "I can't afford them."

"Yeah, I sort of figured that by the fact you had secondhand everything, including – is that Percy's old robes?" he asked. Percy was the slimmest of Ginny's brother's so the easiest for Molly to adjust his old robes to Ginny's frame. She nodded. "You'd take dress robes from George."

"That's different, he's my brother."

"I'm your husband."

"In name only."

He placed his hands on Ginny's hips and rested his chin in her shoulder. "That may be, but it reflects badly on me if my wife is always wearing hand-me-downs. Besides, it makes me happy to provide for you and it's a wife's job to make her husband happy."

Ginny smiled at that; he was certainly making it difficult for her to refuse the robes. "Can you afford this?" she asked, remembering how shabbily-dressed he had once been.

Sensing her thoughts again, Lupin took her hand and led her from his bedroom to the room he used for a study. "These are my financial records," he said, withdrawing a folder from a drawer in his desks. "You're welcome to go through these any time you like, but please let me know first, because I have my stuff organised in a particular way." Because there was only one chair, he sat down and pulled her into his lap, holding her securely with one arm around her waist. "It should all be pretty self-explanatory. I had quite a bit passed down to me from Tonks – about fifty thousand Galleons that was hers outright, plus her flat that I'm leasing out for another fifty Galleons a month. That's all been funnelled into a trust for Teddy. This," he said, pointing to another column, "is my income from here and _this_ one is all my expenses – you'll see I don't have a lot. Almost everything is paid for by the school. Practically my only expense is clothing. Over ninety percent of what I make is going into my account at Gringotts. Believe me, Gin, I can afford to buy you some new robes – especially when it reflects poorly on me that you don't have any. For the first time in my life, I can be secure in the fact I can provide for my wife and child. Let me enjoy that."

"OK... but don't you _dare_ go buying anything but the necessities," she said.

"S'long as I get to define what the necessities are," he agreed. "And speaking of Gringotts – I've set you up an account. I've been leasing out my own flat for fifteen Galleons a month and I've arranged for that to go into it. It'll be yours to do with as you like. Let me know if it's not enough."

Ginny gasped at that. Her family had never had fifteen Galleons to spare, let alone for one person to use as they wished. But then, they'd never had a property, no matter how small and shabby, that they could lease out while living for free somewhere else. The idea of having fifteen Galleons a month for her own blew her away, but also struck at her pride. "Remus, I won't take your money."

"And I won't have my wife scraping by like a poverty-stricken student."

"Well, I am – "

"Gin, stop, please," Lupin commanded her softly. "I want to do this for you. It makes me happy to be able to provide for you. I know we're not a real husband-and-wife but I'm very fond of you and I like to think I make a pretty good mentor and companion and God knows, that makes our marriage an improvement on most of them."

She leaned her head back against his shoulder. "Yeah," she agreed. Her marriage might not have the intimacy you would expect of a marriage, but they had an honesty and camaraderie that many couples didn't. She would never forget how tenderly and comfortingly he had held her when she'd had her nightmare about Fred, the way he could make her laugh and think and challenge her and even make her feel special. There were far worse men she could have been forced into marriage with. "OK, but don't go overboard," she said.

She could feel Lupin perk up, and knew he had something else in store for her. "Just one more thing," he said when she started to protest, wriggling around so he could retrieve something from his pocket. "I saw it in a store window and had to get it for you."

She gasped when she saw it. It was an exquisite ruby pendant on a gold chain – the Gryffindor colours. "Remus, I can't accept this," she just managed to choke out, wanting to grab at the pendant with a surge of longing. It was gorgeous, and she had never possessed something so beautiful – or expensive.

"Consider it a belated wedding present," he said calmly. "I can't exactly get you another ring and it just kind of called out to me and I had to get it for you. Unless you want me to find another charming young Gryffindor who would like it."

She giggled at his empty, teasing threat. "Don't you dare!" she squealed, grabbing at it. He held it out of her reach, then pulled her hair to one side and fastened it around her neck. It fell to just above the neckline of her shirt, a perfect length without needing to be adjusted. "Perfect," he said, "like you."

* * *

"What's that?" Sarah Callahan asked, her eyes swooping on the pendant like a magpie.

Ginny fingered it and smiled smugly at the obvious look of jealousy of Sarah's face. "Remus bought it for me. Saw it in a window and said he had to get it – Gryffindor colours, see," she said, holding it out, as if Sarah couldn't see for herself the ruby-and-gold pendant. "I think he'd empty his Gringotts account on me if I asked. He already set me up my own. Said he had no need for the rent he was getting from his flat and he wanted me to have money of my own."

She relished the look on Sarah's face when she said that. "So you're happy to take your husband's money?" she asked snidely.

"As opposed to my or your mums?" Ginny asked sweetly. "He says he loves being able to provide for Teddy and I and who am I to deny my husband something that makes him happy?" she asked airily, playing with her locket.

From across the room, Lupin noticed Ginny and Sarah's exchange and momentarily wondered why Ginny bothered engaging with her at all – maybe she simply couldn't resist needling the Ravenclaw after all she had done to her. He wound his way through his students, overlooking their work, generally impressed with it. He had provided them with a teacher who knew his Dark Arts and defences against them as well as being an insightful, encouraging mentor, and they responded by surpassing any effort they had given a DADA Professor to date.

He got to Ginny. Her pendant had snaked around so the clasp was sitting below her collarbone. He could have fixed that with a charm so basic that a wizard of his ability could do it wandless and wordless, but he took her hair gently in one hand and pulled the chain so the clasp was back behind her neck. He squeezed her shoulder in a show of simple but unmissable affection before moving on.

Ginny could feel the heat of Sarah's glare on her face and was in a jubilant mood for the rest of the day. She arrived at the rooms she shared with Lupin to see her oldest brother there. "Bill!" she said delightedly. "I had no idea you would be here!"

"I've noticed," he said dryly. "I was just about to go looking for you. What's with the super-security? I don't think even Snape bothered with this much protection."

She explained briefly about Jeff Adams. "But I don't want to talk about him," she said, making a face. "Come in." She opened the doors – Lupin had put a security enchantment on the door that would only respond to him or Ginny, and could only be broken by a powerful witch or wizard like McGonagall, Flitwick or Sprout. She led him through to the kitchen – "sorry, this is smaller than you're used to," she found herself apologising and thinking of the charming Shell Cottage that Bill shared with Fleur.

"Three people don't exactly need a lot of space," Bill pointed out.

Ginny laughed. "Are you kidding? Remus requested these rooms specifically 'cos they're close to the DADA classrooms and he wanted the extra space for Teddy – but they were originally expanded to this side at the request of Gilderoy Lockhart. Wanted the space for his trophies and portraits, I guess."

Bill chortled. He and Charlie had long since graduated from Hogwarts when Lockhart had been the DADA teacher, but he had heard plenty from his five youngest siblings what a fraud the Professor was. Well, at least he'd heard that from his four youngest brothers – Ginny, like much of the female population, several Professors included, had had crushes on him. But he decided it was best not to say anything, given that she was married to Lockhart's successor. "You look well," he said approvingly. "New robes?" he asked.

She nodded. "Remus bought them for me. Said it looked tacky for me to be wearing Percy's taken-in robes."

Bill nodded knowingly. "I kept telling mum that – I said of all the things to scrimp and save on, your clothes weren't one of them. Charlie and I offered to buy you stuff all the time, but you know how mum is." He looked at her more closely. She _did_ look good, and it was more than just having new robes, although admittedly, something new and whole that fitted her perfectly did a lot of emphasis her attractiveness. She hadn't been quite together since Fred's death, and Harry's infidelity had been a massive blow on top of that. Now she seemed calm and happy. Married life suited her – or maybe it was just married life to Lupin. "He treating you well?" Bill asked, eyeing off the pendant she was wearing.

"Yeah," Ginny said.

"Good. I was a bit concerned about what I was hearing, but you guys seem to have sorted things out," he said, glancing as discreetly as he could manage – which, for a Weasley, wasn't particularly discreet – at her left hand, which was indeed sporting a wedding ring. He noticed that it was a lot flashier than the pendant – but then, the flashy ring may have just been his way of apologising and giving her something to show off, whereas the pendant was something he had bought because it had made him think of her.

Ginny blushed, wondering if Bill had taken note of the fact her pendant was stylish and understated while her ring was extremely flashy; anyone who put a little thought into it would know that they weren't from the same man. "Help yourself to whatever you fancy in the fridge," she said, waving her hand towards it. "I'm just going to freshen up. Remus doesn't consider it a proper lesson until we've literally gotten our hands dirty."

She went into the bathroom and change her clothes, doing a quick cleaning spell for good measure. She was pleased Bill was here, he had always been her favourite brother. She hadn't realised how much she missed her family – maybe it was even time to be on speaking terms with her mother...

"Gin," Bill said when she returned to the kitchen, a confused – or was that concerned? – look on his face, "why do you and Remus have separate bedrooms?"

Her heart fell. She never had people over for precisely this reason, so they would pick up on the separate lives lived in these rooms. Her friends understood easily enough, their professor had a right not to have students traipsing in and out of his rooms, but she would never have been able to fob Bill off even if she'd thought of it. "I – he doesn't like me staying with him during the full moon," she lied lamely.

"Bullshit. We both know that he won't have you anywhere near him during the full moon, not just in a separate room. And your bedroom isn't just somewhere for you to crash a few nights a month. You've set yourself up there, and he's given you the money to do it. So I repeat – why do you and Remus have separate rooms? Has he done something to you, Gin? Is all this out of guilt?" he asked, gesturing to her robes to mean all the things he had bought for her in their short marriage.

"No, and it's none of your business," Ginny snapped.

"It is if my sister's husband is mistreating her," Bill countered. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Is it true that he seduced you?" he asked suspiciously. "That's it, isn't it? He seduced you and had to marry you and now he's giving you all this stuff to make up for the fact you have to spend the rest of your life with a werewolf old enough to be your father."

"He didn't seduce me!" Ginny yelled indignantly. "He never touched me – in that way – until our wedding night. I went out in the snow one night and he came and got me. I was frozen and unconscious and he took our shirts off to use his body heat to warm me up. _That was all_. He married me 'cos mum said I'd never see any of you again if he didn't, and he leaves me to do my own thing. He gives me this stuff because he likes being able to support me and he likes having me around – or can't you buy that someone might find your kid sister good company? Am I always going to be your dumb, immature kid sister to you?"

"Of course not!" Bill said, stunned to hear the truth of his sister's marriage. He'd never quite been able to shake the belief that Lupin had done the wrong thing by her, allowing themselves to be caught in a compromising position that meant he'd had to marry her, and learning that it was no marriage at all stunned him. "But – but – you've been intimate with him?" he asked, thinking of the Dark Laws.

"He made it pretty clear that we had to," she said, shuddering at the memory. The pain she could have taken – her husband crying out for his late wife she couldn't forget.

He eyed her suspiciously. "What did he do to you?" he demanded to know. "Did he force himself on you?" He saw Ginny flinch to remember how painful and humiliating her wedding night had been.

"He didn't do anything he didn't have to," she said.

"He _did_!" Bill said indignantly, fury that Lupin had treated his kid sister that way. "That son-of-a-bitch, when I get my hands on him – I'm taking you home – "

"You're not taking me anywhere!" Ginny yelled at him as he went to grab her arm.

"Hey! What the hell's going on in here?" Lupin asked, coming through the front door to see what looked like his brother-in-law manhandling his wife.

"I'm taking her home to the Burrow," Bill said.

"No, he's not," Ginny said determinedly.

"No, you're not," Lupin said with calm forcefulness. If Ginny had wanted to know, that was one thing, but it was clear that Bill was trying to force her. "She's my wife, her place is with me."

"_With you_? After what you did to her? She flinched when I asked her if you'd – and that was months ago – what the hell did you do to her?" Bill demanded fiercely, yanking on Ginny's arm so hard that she cried out.

"Nothing I didn't have to!" Lupin hissed. Insults against his integrity he could take, but he couldn't stand to witness Ginny being manhandled. "You really think I enjoyed doing it? You want to blame someone for her marriage not being what it ought to be, go yell at your mother. Love, come here," Lupin directed Ginny, holding out his hand slightly.

"Don't call her that," Bill growled in a fair impression of Lupin when he was close to the full moon and felt someone he cared about was being mistreated. "Don't you put your fucking hands on her again. I'm taking her home where she's safe from people like you." He actually began dragging Ginny towards the door. Lupin aimed his wand at him and executed a simple, if somewhat obscure, spell that caused Bill to jump away in pain as if he'd been burnt. "_Shit!_ What the fuck was _that_?" Bill yelled.

"_That_ was a simple separation spell that comes under the conjuical rights laws," Lupin said calmly. "You'd be surprised what I'm allowed to do when it comes to my wife. Love, come here," he repeated, and Ginny took advantage of the fact Bill had led her go to run into her husband's arms. He wasn't a real husband, but there was something safe about the strength of his hold, firm and yet gentle and undemanding at the same time, particularly after the possessive, condescending way Bill had handled her moments before, like she wasn't an adult who had made an informed decision and was capable of being happy in her marriage, even if it was based on convenience and then friendship, not passion or love.

Bill was surprised at the way he rubbed his hand in small circled between her shoulder blades in a very tender, very comforting – if more fatherly than loverly – way. They weren't the actions of a man who had seduced a teenager and been forced into an unwanted marriage, a man who had deflowered her without thought or compassion. Though he could just be putting on an act. And he was surprised at the way Ginny threw her arms around his neck, taking comfort in his embrace in a way that she had never done with any of her previous boyfriends. He had always thought Ginny would be better off with someone a fair bit older than her, someone who had the wisdom and experience to guide her. But Lupin had been – was still – her _Professor_. While it sounded in character for both Ginny and Lupin to get in the situation that Ginny had described which had forced their marriage, he still found it creepy that her Professor had done this to her.

"Gin, I want you to go to your room," Lupin said quietly. "I'll be with you in a sec." Ginny nodded and went to leave.

"No. I'm taking her home."

Lupin looked at Bill levelly, his eyes coolly determined. "This _is _her home. With me. Go back to your mother, Bill, and tell her that I don't care who they are, anyone who makes my wife cry is not welcome in this castle, let alone these rooms." He kissed the top of Ginny's head. "Tell him, Gin," he directed her.

She turned around to face her brother. "Bill, I want you to go. This _is_ my home. My marriage might not be what I thought it would be, but he makes me happy and that's more than a lot of couples have. And mum made us do this, so she can't turn around and say anything now without being a filthy hypocrite."

Lupin's hand was resting lightly on her shoulder, meant as a show of support, but Bill took it as a show of possessiveness and control. "You can't keep her from us forever," he said, turning on his heel and leaving the rooms – and the castle.

"You OK?" Lupin asked her. He inspected her arm when Bill had grabbed her. There was a slight bruise there; the healing spell it required was one that he could do wandless and wordless, merely pressing his fingers gently into her skin and delivering the enchantment mentally.

Ginny nodded. "He made me feel like I was seven instead of seventeen," she said.

"In all fairness, love, seventeen's still young to be married and I'm old enough to be your father. He grab you anywhere else?" he asked. She shook her head.

"Why are you being so nice about it?" she asked.

"Because for all that it's none of his business, it does show that he cares," Lupin told her calmly. "Teddy's the only family I have. You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss yours."

"Aren't I your family?" she asked, a little flirtatiously.

He wasn't sure what to make of that tone in her voice, so he overlooked it. "You're my next of kin," he said mildly. Then he changed the subject. "Love, why don't you come to class, say, ten minutes early tomorrow? Sarah Callahan is always finding an excuse to be alone with me and I plan on making a point that she's not likely to forget."

* * *

"Mum, while you were sending me to find out about Ginny and Remus, you could have let me know what really happened," Bill complained irritably when he saw his mother that night. "I made a right fool of myself. My first thought was that he was mistreating her."

"Is he?"

"Hardly. He's as generous and solicitous as you could ask a man to be in that situation. He's bought her new robes and jewellery and set up her own Gringotts account. And I don't think he's asking anything in return but her company. It didn't _look_ like they were sleeping together. Speaking of which – she said he didn't do anything he didn't have to. Know what that meant?" he asked, watching his mother carefully. Molly was no better at concealing her thoughts and emotions than her children; it was something they had all inherited from her. "Mum!" Bill said, shocked and a little ashamed that his mother had knowingly set her only daughter up for that. "He never wanted to sleep with her, did he? He did it because it was better than leaving her open to the Dark Laws. What did he do, drug himself? _Her_?" Bill remembered how badly Lupin had taken his wife's – his _first _wife's – death. A strong lust potions and a fantasy about Tonks might have gotten him through it – but made it a painful and humiliating experience for Ginny. "God, no wonder she flinched when I asked her about it. It must have been awful for her – why did you put her through that?"

"She would have been taken advantage of if he didn't," Molly said primly. "And she would have been disgraced if they didn't marry. _I_ did what I had to do."

"God, mum, he's gone out of his way to treat her with respect and provide for her when he had every right to spend the rest of his life grieving for Tonks – which he can't do now because of the disrespect it shows Ginny." It made sense now why the first few weeks of their marriage had been so disastrous, until Lupin had realised just how badly his public grieving for Tonks was affecting Ginny. "The only thing you can be grateful for is the fact he doesn't mistreat her – and thanks to Ted Tonks, he knows those conjuical rights laws by heart, there's plenty of scope for him to mistreat her if he wants. She'll never have a real marriage, she'll never have children. I hope that was worth it for you not to have her disgraced."

* * *

"You wanted me in early?" Ginny asked the next day. She always arrived exactly on time, at Lupin's request, no less – while he had enjoyed having a chat with her before the class started in the past, he didn't feel it was appropriate for other students to be walking in on them alone together, even casually chatting, in the classroom. But today that was exactly what he wanted – and more.

"Yes. Come sit down," Lupin said, patting his thigh to indicate he wanted her to sit on his lap. Ginny giggled slightly. Only Lupin could look so awkward when he did that, so aware that the motion made him look like an almost-forty-year-old-man wanting a teenage girl to sit on his lap that he actually couldn't have appeared any further away from that. Ginny sat on his lap and rested her head against his shoulder. The truth was, she loved any excuse to feel the security of his arms around her. How did someone so thin manage to exude such strength, and such a non-threatening strength at that? "I told you I wanted to make a point to Sarah that she wasn't likely to forget. I want her to walk in on us kissing. If you're OK with that, I mean."

"But McGonagall said – "

"Yeah, I know what she said. She actually happens to agree with me on this one. A few PDAs and it might actually get certain students off our backs," he said. 'Certain students', of course, meant Sarah Callahan and Jeff Adams. "So I'm going to kiss you until she walks in on us and hopefully gets the point – that is, if you're OK with it," he added.

She knew she was blushing. Lupin hadn't kissed her – at least, not a proper, husbandly kiss – since their wedding night. He was an excellent kisser, and yet, thinking about that night always made her feel humiliated and unwanted. "Hey," he said softly, as if sensing her thoughts. She knew he had a passing talent with Legilimency that mainly extended to reading the thoughts of someone he was close to. "I'm not going to be thinking about her, I promise. It's just me and you in this marriage now."

She nodded, and wrapped her arms around his neck. He lowered his mouth to hers, his moustache brushing against her skin like it had on their wedding night, and she shivered with anticipation. "Remus," she whispered, parting her lips so he could slide his tongue into her mouth. She flicked her own tongue out to meet his and wrapped her arms tighter around his neck when they began kissing in earnest. His fingers were in her hair, running through it, pulling slightly at the roots to create a very pleasurable pressure. "Remus," she whispered again.

God, he loved the way she said his name – far more than he ought to. He moved his hand up to the back of her head, fisting her hair in his hand, pushing against the back of her head so he could be more forceful with his kiss. _Ginny, Ginny_, he thought wildly.

"Yes?" she whispered huskily.

"Sorry," he murmured. "I was thinking too loudly. You've now seen the extent of my impressive Legilimency skills," he quipped, then fastened his mouth back on hers. She felt a thrill to know that his thoughts had been running through his brain so powerfully that she had picked them up unintentionally. Given she had never picked up thoughts about Tonks on their wedding night, she wondered if he was thinking about her more strongly now than he had been his first wife on their wedding night, and if he was, did that mean he'd developed strong feelings for her in the last few months?

But her thoughts were lost as Lupin's kiss deepened, and it was unlike any kiss she had experienced before. It wasn't just that he very much knew what he was doing – there was an undeniable chemistry between them, despite the age difference, despite that this was supposed to be a marriage of convenience. She had actually been one of the few of his female students who hadn't had a bit of a crush on him because she had known the depths of grief he was in and better than to go there, but somewhere along the line, he had let go of a lot of his grief and provided an excellent mentor and companion for her that was far deeper than anything any of his other students knew of him. It was easy to develop feelings for someone when they were as attentive and insightful as Lupin could be – when he wasn't wallowing in his grief – and when he was kissing her she felt a surge of heat that she'd never felt with anyone else...

There was an indiscreet coughing sound at the door. Reluctantly pulling away, Lupin saw not only Sarah but a few of her sycophants. It was a better scenario then he could have hoped for, but he felt strangely disappointed. He hadn't meant to get so carried away but had thoroughly enjoyed kissing Ginny. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, feeling guilty for enjoying kissing her so much. "Take a seat, love," he said huskily, pushing her slightly.

She scurried to her seat, the memory of Lupin's kisses hot in her mind; she couldn't even take much pleasure out of the hateful expression on Sarah's face. She had never been kissed like that before, and it had been a vast improvement on the last time he had kissed her as a husband... this time, she knew his thought s had been entirely on her – and that he was damn attracted to her... and now everyone knew it.

* * *

Bill was sitting on the floor outside Lupin's front door. "Ginny's not here, she's studying with Luna," Lupin said shortly. He wasn't in the mood for another confrontation with his brother-in-law.

"I was actually here to see you," Bill said. "I wanted to apologise. Mum told me the truth. I wish I had known before I came barging in here. I bought you chocolate," he finished, holding up a giant slab of Honeydukes chocolate. Lupin's sweet tooth was well known.

"Come in, I suppose," Lupin said, a little ungraciously. Bill followed him into the rooms. "Do you want a drink? I have butterbeer, firewhisky and pumpkin juice."

"Firewhisky would be great," Bill said, feeling that he needed it after the way he'd had a go at Lupin on their previous meeting. "I was out of line," he admitted frankly when they sat down together. "I saw that you had separate rooms and assumed the worst. I know now that you've gone above and beyond to do the right thing by her."

"Thankyou," Lupin said. "What did Molly have to say about it?"

"She's not sorry she did it. For what it's worth, I think she was too hard on Ginny. She's forced her to give up a lot. I'm only grateful that you're treating her well. She could have done a lot worse."

"What, like being married to a werewolf old enough to be her father who insists on his conjuical rights?" Lupin asked with a wry grin.

"Something like that. Speaking of which – I hear you had quite the snogging session the other day."

Lupin felt himself going red, both at the memory of kissing Ginny and the fact her brother was calling him on it. "How in God's name did you hear about that?" he asked.

"Luna talks to Neville, Neville talks to Ron," Bill said. "Seems you guys were really going at it."

"It's Sarah Callahan," Lupin said. "She's a thoroughly nasty piece of work. I take it you heard about how she came onto me?" Bill nodded. "She's been pulling that kind of crap all year and we can't do anything about it unless she assaults of drugs one of us. I just wanted to make a point... and I think I did. I won't have Ginny having to put up with that."

"You really care about her," Bill said, surprised by the vehemence in Lupin's voice.

"You can't exactly live with someone and not care about them – or want to murder them," he said softly. "She's a very intelligent woman, and I like having her around. I was really lonely before she started living here – and I think she was, too. I know she's missing out on a lot for having been married to me, but I think she's getting something out of it, too."

There was something in the way he said that which made Bill think that he cared about Ginny more than just because she was pleasant company that he shared so much of his free time with.

* * *

"Are you here to attack my husband again?" Ginny asked coolly when she saw her brother.

"I come in peace. I just wanted to apologise for flying off the handle. I had no idea what had happened – and if it's worth anything to you, I think it was a lousy thing for mum to do. I wish you'd have come to me and Fleur. We would have taken care of her."

"It doesn't matter now," she said philosophically. "And I meant what I said – he does make me happy."

"How so? I'm not attacking you, Gin, I'm just curious. What are you getting out of it if not physical intimacy?"

He seemed genuinely interested in understanding his sister's marriage – all the more so given that he was married to a part-Veela so the idea of a passionless marriage must be completely unfathomable to her. "He treats me like an adult," she started. "You guys never did – I was always your kid sister, even to Ron. It's funny – I think growing up with all these older brothers made me a lot more mature but you guys treated me like the opposite, like I was always your baby sister in the literal sense. Sometimes I think you were the worst because you actually remember when I _was_ your baby sister."

"I'll admit to that," Bill said dryly. He had been eleven years old when Ginny had been born, plenty old enough to remember when she had literally been a baby.

"He gets me – he's so easy to talk to. At first it was just about Fred and school stuff but after a while we could talk about anything. I _like_ having someone like that to have a discussion with at the end of the day. It beats a bunch of teenage girls talking about clothes and boys. Though I miss having a decent discussion about Quidditch. You can see Remus's eyes start to glaze over if you so much as mention a snitch." Bill laughed at that; from everything he had seen of the bookish Lupin, the man was as unathletic as you got. "And he's so thoughtful. He's always got hot chocolate and a massage ready after a game." Actually, if she really needed it, it was firewhisky, but she wasn't going to tell Bill that. "I like being around him. He makes me appreciated and special in a way that no-one else has, and even if it's not a real marriage, it's more than anything else I've had, and I have a feeling it's more than a lot of people have."

"And that's the limit to it?" he asked.

"You mean is it still non-sexual?" Ginny asked baldly. "Yeah. I don't think he sees me that way."

"You make it sound like you're disappointed by that."

Ginny found herself blushing. "When he kissed me – it was amazing. And I could feel him projecting his thoughts onto me. He must feel _something_ – even if he doesn't want to."

"Why wouldn't he want to?" he asked.

"It's the way he thinks. He can be so damn honourable at times. He'll marry me, but to him I'm still young enough to be his daughter and therefor _not_ old enough to be his wife. It's like he's shut his mind to the idea. I swear sometimes he looks at me and still sees his student." Albeit a student that he had in his lap with his tongue down her throat, but a student nonetheless.

Oddly enough, it was this piece of information more than anything that impressed Bill. Lupin had a legal right to consummate his marriage, but instead, he had gone in the other direction and refused to see her as a wife. Which seemed like such a waste, because for all the misgivings he had had a few days ago about their marriage, it seemed to be one based on deep fondness and respect, which was more than many married couples had, and always an excellent foundation for a happy union. "Tell you what, I'll have a talk to Fleur," he offered. "She might have some ideas."

* * *

"What," Lupin asked, partly scandalised and partly turned on by the scrap of fabric Ginny was wearing, "is _that_?"

"It's a nightie," Ginny said. "Why, what does it look like?"

"Looks like half a nightie," Lupin said. The dark blue half-a-nightie clung to her body like a second skin and ended at her thighs. Tonks had never worn anything like it so as far as Lupin was concerned, it was the sexiest thing he had ever seen. And he didn't like it. He was having enough trouble trying to forget about the kiss he had shared with her without her parading around in – well, not much.

"You don't like it?" she asked.

"I think you're going to be cold," he said, the first handy lie that came to mind. "You know I don't like to turn the heat up." He buried his face in his book so he wouldn't have to look at her svelte body that was poorly disguised by the skimpy nightie. He caught a glimpse of how well-defined her thighs were, the result of so much flying, no doubt. He gritted his teeth, determined not to take so much pleasure out of what was surely an innocent mistake on her behalf. Fleur had probably been putting ideas in her head about how a married woman should dress. It wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind when he'd wanted her to dress a little more maturely.

Bravely hiding her crushing disappointment, Ginny went to her room to get her robe. "Good girl," he said absently, and she felt the urge to burst into tears at his complete lack of interest in her sexually.

He was grateful the following night when she had returned to the girlish pyjamas she had been wearing until the previous night. They were exactly fitting for a Professor's wife to wear, but he infinitely preferred them to her flaunting her body – even unknowingly – in a nothing silk nightie.

* * *

"Gin, have you given any thought to spending Easter at The Burrow?"

Ginny made a face. "Do I have to?"

"You don't have to do anything, love, you know that. I just think you ought to. I know you miss your brothers. And I think you even miss your mum."

"I do not."

"C'mon, Gin, I know you better than you think. You miss your family. It's perfectly natural. Besides, I figured I'd write your mum a little note, threaten to insist on having you with me. It's my legal right to do that, you know."

She giggled. "You would keep a daughter from her mother?" she asked, the irony that he had been trying to reconcile her with her mother these past few months not being lost on her.

"I would keep my wife from anyone who upsets her," Lupin said. "You can be a real surly bitch when you're upset, you know that," he teased.

"I am not! I'm perfectly angelic all the time."

He snorted derisively. "Yeah, right. You're a Weasley. The lot of you have tempers to match your hair. Not that I'm complaining. You have a lot of passion, and I like that in a person."

She squirmed. "Really?" It was an odd sort of compliment, but somehow it worked coming from her husband.

"Yeah, really. Gin, that's why I think it's important for you to spend Easter at the Burrow. You and your mum love each other, but you're missing out on so much by holding this grudge against her. You haven't done too badly out of this, have you?" he asked quietly.

"Of course not."

"Then please at least try? For me? I hate seeing parents and children on the outs like this, especially after everything we've all been through. If she upsets you, you can come back to school and I won't push you again."

"You won't be coming with me?"

He shook his head. "Fraid not, love. I agreed to stay on over Easter to look after the orphans. But you can come back if she upsets you."

"And you won't make me go back again?"

"I won't make you go back again."

"Well... OK then," Ginny said, secretly looking forward to see her family again.

"Wow, you look terrific," George said approvingly. "Remus treating you well?" he asked, taking in her new robes and the pendant around her neck.

"Yeah," Ginny said. "He likes taking care of me."

"I can see that. I can hardly call you my kid sister anymore."

She blushed. "Oh, George. I'll always be your kid sister. Is mum around?"

"Kitchen, as usual," George said.

Ginny went through the house to see her mother cooking up a storm. Molly looked up, tears of joy in her eyes when she saw her only daughter. "Ginny," she said. "Oh, it's so good to see you..."

She went to embrace her daughter. Ginny accepted the embrace awkwardly. "I have a note from my husband," she said, withdrawing it from her robe pocket and handing it over to her mother.

_Molly,_

_I won't tolerate any interference in my marriage. If you upset Ginny again, I'll insist that she stay with me and I certainly won't lift a finger to help you reconcile your relationship. You wanted this marriage; you can live with the consequences of my being her next of kin._

_Remus._

Molly folded up the note and put it in her apron pocket. "You've read this?" she asked her daughter. Ginny nodded. "And you agree with what he said?" Ginny nodded again. "How could you take his side over your own mother's?" she demanded shrilly.

"Careful, _mother_, or I'll go back to school. I'm old enough to be wedded and bedded, I'm old enough to be treated like an adult."

"I did what I had to do to save you from disgrace!" Molly said.

"You forced me into a position where my husband practically raped me!" Ginny cried. "Do you have _any idea_ how disgusting I felt?"

"He should have been more considerate," Molly said indignantly, aghast to hear Ginny put her wedding-night treatment so baldly.

"He _has_ been considerate, mum," Ginny said. "He's so – he makes me feel special. He makes me feel like an adult. I really like being around him. I like how he makes me feel. And he lets me talk about Fred," she added, a little defiantly.

"You could have talked about Fred to me," Molly said indignantly.

"No, I couldn't. Look, maybe being glad to have survived is your way – but it's not mine, and it's not Remus's. We're actually very compatible. "

"You care about him a lot."

"Yeah, I do, and I'm surprised that you're surprised. He's a good man, mum. I couldn't ask for a better husband, given the circumstances."

"Charlie didn't say anything about separate rooms," Molly said disapprovingly.

"He took the couch," Ginny lied, knowing that her mother wouldn't understand how much she loved cuddling up to him. "Would you rather we explained the need for separate rooms? Because that went down _so well_ with Bill," she reminded her mother, the hint of a smile playing on her lips.

Molly looked like she was about to say something, but then Bill came in. "Did I hear my name?" he asked.

"Just reminding mum how well it went down when you found out about our separate rooms and how we weren't going to try explaining to Charlie the need for them," Ginny said airily.

"Yeah, and I actually know Remus to know he's a decent guy after I got over the shock. How did they get on?" Bill asked.

"Brilliantly. Between the two of them I think they know everything there is to know about all things Dark and Dangerous."

Bill laughed at that. "Yeah, I can see the two of them getting along. You look great, by the way. Remus treating you well?"

"Why does everyone say that?"

"Because you're the only person I know who's come out of the war looking _better_ for it. Other than maybe your husband," Bill teased.

He waited until he got Ginny alone. "How'd Fleur's fashion advice go?" he asked.

"It didn't," she admitted. "He told me I'd be cold without hardly even looking up from his book."

"Ah, Gin. I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. Bill – I don't understand it. The way he kissed me – I _know_ he was thinking about me – and just me. He was projecting his thoughts onto me. I knew what he was thinking as if he was saying it out loud."

"Gin, I don't know what to say. Maybe he feels like he shouldn't be attracted to you? You are young enough – "

"To be his daughter, yes, I know," Ginny said grumpily. Why did everyone have to remind her of that – no-one more than her own husband, so it seemed.

* * *

"Mrs. Lupin, we were wondering when we would see you," Pamela Honeyduke, owner of Honeydukes, greeted the young woman with a friendly smile.

"Pardon?" Ginny asked.

"Your husband is one of our biggest patrons. It being Easter, I figured you'd make an appearance eventually. Is there anything you were after specifically?"

"Choc mint and honeycomb," Ginny said promptly.

Pamela laughed at that. "I see you know his tastes."

"Why wouldn't I?" Ginny asked coolly, her heart still sore over the realisation that her husband failed to see her as anything more than a daughter – however attractive he might find her. It seemed no-one took her marriage seriously, least of all her husband.

"Oh, please don't take offense," Pamela pleaded. "It's just that he's quite a solitary man, he doesn't share his life well, and given the nature of your marriage – not that you don't seem very happy. Hardly anyone came out of the war looking better for it."

"That's what my brother said," Ginny said ruefully. "The same brother who said he always figured I'd end up with someone much older."

"Well, whatever it is, it suits you. I remember when I first met you – you were so shy. Having all those high-achieving brothers can't have been easy for you."

Ginny found that she quite liked the older woman's company, and left with enough chocolate to tide even her husband over for a decent period of time. She thought she would surprise him when an assortment of his favourite chocolate. Though how he could eat so much and not gain an ounce was beyond her.

* * *

"What do you think?" Molly asked her oldest son after Ginny had left to return to Hogwarts via Hogsmead village – specifically, Honeydukes.

"I think she has feelings for him," Bill said frankly. "I think they're very close and attracted to one another – though I don't think he cares to admit it, let alone act on it." Bill conveniently left out the fact he had encouraged Fleur to give Ginny fashion advice in the form of lingerie; that would only reflect poorly on him and his wife. "It wouldn't surprise me if they end up together – properly, I mean."

"He's old enough to be her father," Molly protested.

"And _she's_ old enough to be his wife," Bill countered.

"He mistreated her."

"Once – and if he hadn't, Merlin knows what would have happened to her if it was found out that she was still a virgin. And honestly, mum, I think they're more compatible than most couples out there. I think they're more compatible than she and Harry were. Hell, I think they're more compatible than he and Tonks were." Ginny was such an old soul and Tonks had been quite youthful even for her relatively young age. "He's good for her, mum. Surely you can see that. It's not just the clothes – though I think having new things has done wonders for her confidence. They seem to really groove well together. And I think eventually they're going to look at each other in a new light. And when that happens – well, you know how much she looks to him for guidance as it is. If you don't come to accept him as a huge part of her life, you're only going to make it harder to reconcile with her in the future."

* * *

"Professor, are you OK?"

Lupin looked up distractedly. Dennis Creavey was addressing him. "Fine," he said.

"You miss Ginny?"

Lupin smiled sheepishly at that. "More than I thought I would," he admitted. It was only for a few days, but he was floored by just how much he missed her. He'd gotten so used to having her around since their marriage that he actually missed her – and deeply. He missed the way she would stroke his hair when he couldn't sleep, he missed the way she fit into his arms like her body had been built for his. He missed the way she smelled and the way she traced his scars without any disgust.

"I think it's nice," Dennis offered wistfully. "I don't know why you agreed to take this job."

"Because someone had to do it and I got Christmas off," Lupin said. Because so many Hogwarts students had been orphaned by the war, the school now offered all-year-round supervision and Lupin had offered to stay at the school over Easter. It had seemed only fair since he'd gotten Christmas off. "And my mother-in-law doesn't like me much so I figure it's best that Ginny goes on her own."

"How come? I thought she insisted you get married."

"Doesn't mean she likes me for it. I'm kind of used to it. My first wife's parents didn't like me, either. It's somewhat of a hazard, given my condition. Least I'm ahead on this count, I'm on good terms with most of my brothers-in-law... and Percy was a bit of a git anyway, so no big loss there."

"It must be nice, having such a big family," Dennis said.

"It has its drawbacks. I'm not looking forward to next Christmas. I got away with it last year 'cos the marriage was so recent but I won't be able to pull the same stunt this year."

"Yes, but it means that _you_ get eight presents," came a voice from the door. "Merry Christmas, Remus," Ginny said cheerfully.

"I'll get out of your hair," Dennis said obligingly. He scooted out of the room.

"Didn't mean to scare him off," Ginny said.

"I admitted to missing you," Lupin said huskily. He reached for her and pulled her down into his lap. "You smell nice."

"I missed you, too," she admitted. She wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed him in as he nuzzled her neck. It was something he did as a werewolf, she knew, and she tried not to get worked up over it but it was difficult when his facial hair rubbed against her bare skin.

"How did it go?" he asked. He took the fact she hadn't returned until the end of the Easter weekend to be a good thing.

"OK, I think. I think mum's beginning to accept how much you mean to me. I think she's giving up on the idea that I would be a good little daughter and return home at her command. I got you something." She pulled out the brightly wrapped package from her bag.

He opened it. "Ginny, this is – thankyou," he said huskily. "It's my favourite, too."

"I know, it's practically all you have in the fridge, apart from raw meat. Hey, it's hardly worth crying over," she said, slightly alarmed to feel his tears drip onto her shoulder.

"No-one's bothered to learn my favourite chocolate before," he said. "This means a lot to me. Gin?" he asked shakily.

"Yeah?"

"I love you. Not as a husband – but not like a father, either. Like a companion, I guess. You don't have to say it back. I just wanted you to know."

She slid her hand along the back of his head and pushed it into her shoulder. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing. "I love you, too."


	9. Chapter 9

"I got an invitation to George's birthday. He's having what he calls 'quiet drinks' at the joke shop, which if I remember George, actually means as much booze as he can afford on what the shop makes – which, from what I'm hearing, is a considerable amount." George Weasley was making a killing out of his joke shop's success, even without the brilliant partnership that he had made with his twin. People desperately needed amusement, and he a Fred had been the Reigning Kings of Amusement – much to their mother's chagrin, although Molly wasn't complaining much in light of the success they had made. "You want to go? Just be warned, I'd hazard a guess that he's invited Harry."

"Will he be there?"

"Couldn't say. I catch up with him once a month when he takes care of Harry. Would it bother you if he was? I'll be there, I'll have your back," he promised her.

"Well, when you put it like that..." she said, smiling adoringly at him.

* * *

"Remus, I can't wear this. It's too... adult."

"Really? I couldn't tell," Lupin said sarcastically. He'd bought her a gorgeous, if somewhat more mature than she usually wore, dress for George's birthday: black, which clinched at the waist and flared out to mid-thigh with thin, sparkly straps that went most of the way down her back; gleefully it occurred to her that if he wanted to put his arms around her waist, he would have to touch her bare skin, or move his hands down to her ass. "I thought it was about time you had a proper party dress. The only other time I've seen you in one is the Triwizard ball, and you definitely looked cute, but that's just it. It's not appropriate – "

"For a professor's wife," Ginny parroted. She took the dress from his hands and admired it. It _was_ gorgeous – and sexy. She wondered what it said about him and the way he saw her that he'd bought it for her. Surely he would have bought her something more sedate if he didn't see her in the least bit sexually?

When the evening came, she had to admit, she barely recognised herself. Lupin had a good sense of what suited her, and the dramatic contrast of the black dress and white lilies in her hair worked well with her fair skin and vibrant hair. She was pleased when her husband stopped dead in his tracks to admire her. "You ready to go?" he asked. She nodded and he handed her a thin shawl that was meant to compliment the dress rather than provide any warmth in this warming weather.

"Remus, you've got to stop buying me things," she complained half-heartedly, because it was hard to be sincere in her rejection of his gifts when he had such good taste and such good instinct when it came to what suited her.

"I'll buy you things so long as I can afford to and so long as it pleases me," Lupin retorted. They left the castle so they could Appirate directly into Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes; Lupin hadn't just bought a gorgeous dress for his wife for her to get ash on it by taking the Floo network.

* * *

"Ginny!" George said when he saw his kid sister. "Good lord, you look... _wow_," he said approvingly. Where his brother-in-law had gotten the ability to balance sexy and classy, he didn't know, but Ginny looked amazing without looking trashy. Every man in the room wouldn't be able to stop looking at her. And the kicker was, no man would dare do anything _but_ look at her. No man would dare hit on the

* * *

wife of a werewolf with a phenomenal knowledge of the Dark Arts. "Gin, I've got to tell you something – Harry didn't tell me that he was bringing – "

But Ginny had already spotted Cho Chang. She tensed up when she saw the woman that Harry had cheated on her – and was apparently still seeing. She tensed up at the sight of the girl – no, _woman_ – that she had always felt a little insecure over – and, it seemed, with good reason. Suddenly it felt like it was only yesterday that she had found out about it.

Lupin immediately had his arms around his wife, shooting his brother-in-law a filthy look for not finding a way to break the news to her more gently. "Gin, it's OK, I'm here," he said to her. "I didn't marry a coward, love, don't let that tramp get you down." And he spun her around and kissed her deeply, flicking his tongue into her mouth, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He kissed her with force and passion that would have made it impossible for him not to kiss him back, even if there had been no attraction between them – which there was plenty of. He crushed her body against his and could feel her breasts heaving as she struggled to breathe.

Finally, he pulled away before she suffocated. "Feeling better?" he asked her, a glint in his eyes, very much aware that everyone was looking at them; George himself was looking at them as if it had never occurred to him that two people could be so passionate, let alone his own sister and his former Professor. Really, it was like imagining that Snape or McGonagall could be passionate.

Ginny nodded. Lupin led her to a table. "You look like you're about to collapse."

"Someone had my chest crushed against his and his tongue down my throat, it was a little hard to breathe," she retorted.

"You complaining? Harry looked jealous."

"Did he really?" Ginny asked, surprised that she didn't feel as pleased as she thought she would over such a revelation.

"Does it matter?" Lupin asked, surprised that he cared if Ginny was still hung up on her ex or not.

"Not really," she admitted. "I thought it would but... it doesn't. Actually, more than anything, I kind of feel sorry for Cho. I wonder if you can ever really trust someone who you hooked up with while they were cheating on their girlfriend."

"That's very mature," Lupin said.

"I have a very mature husband." And she threaded her fingers through his and leaned her head against his shoulder under the pretext of needing support while she caught her breath.

* * *

"Now _that_ was masterful," Bill said.

"What was?" Molly asked.

"He's protective like a father and passionate like a husband. What more could a girl ask for? I think every girl in the room was jealous of that kiss... including Cho Chang." The irony was delicious, and while Bill, like all Ginny's brothers, put the bulk of the blame for Harry's infidelities on Harry while still including him as part of the family after certain arrangements, it was still enjoyable to see Cho rather jealous of the no-holds-barred passion Ginny's new man had showed her. "Not to mention that dress – Fleur looks ready to wrestle her for it." It was on the short side and backless, but either because Lupin had had the good sense not to couple that with it being low-cut in the front or Ginny just had the dignity to pull it off, she was a vision in it.

"It's too revealing," Molly sniffed.

"It's glamorous and classy," Bill countered. "Go and talk to them, mum. He _wants_ a reconciliation between you two. _You're_ the one who keeps banging on about it – after you were the one who made them get married in the first place."

So Molly rather grudgingly went over to talk to them. As Bill had said, Lupin was eager for a reconciliation. He had his arm draped along the back of Ginny's shoulders and was idly tracing patterns along her furtherest shoulder. "Remus, _what_ are you tracing?" Molly asked after a while. "It looks like Runes images."

"It is," he admitted. "It was one of my best subjects. I do it unconsciously all the time. I was barely aware I do it until Ginny told me."

"He does," Ginny said cheerfully, making it clear that she didn't mind in the least that her husband had an unconscious habit of tracing images along her bare skin. "He's so tactile." She smiled up at him and he responded by kissing her forehead.

She did look more relaxed with him around than she had been at Easter, Molly thought. And before that, she hadn't seen Ginny since before her marriage and she had still been so upset over her breakup with Harry. Now, she seemed genuinely disinterested in seeing Harry and Cho together beyond the initial shock.

She was floored to discover how much her daughter had learnt under Lupin's supervision. "Well, in DADA, Charms and Runes," he admitted ruefully. "Potions I got through on rote learning and Lily's favour and Transfiguration I failed. I was kind of over transforming anything by the time I was eleven. Honestly, I'm waiting for someone to complain that Gin's getting so much extra tuition."

"It would have occurred to Sarah to ask for the same tuition if she thought you wouldn't just palm her off onto Flitwick and she would be stuck actually doing the extra tuition," Ginny said.

"She's failing almost everything," Luna offered dreamily.

"Doesn't surprise me, the amount of time that girl spends doing stuff that she shouldn't be doing," Lupin said dryly.

"This is the same Sarah who – " Molly started to laugh.

"Showed up in my rooms in the middle of the night and threw herself at me?" Lupin offered. "Yep, that's her. Girl could afford to lose a few kilos, too."

"I don't see how you can joke about it," Molly said stiffly.

"Because everything she does tends to push Gin and I closer," he said softly. He ran his fingers across the back of her neck and smiled at her. "And she's just some dumb tramp who doesn't know any better, right love?" he asked. Ginny nodded.

"See what I mean now?" Bill asked Molly later that evening. "You never saw it before because you never saw them together." He refrained from adding that she had never seen them together because her actions had so deeply hurt Ginny that Lupin was constantly running interference. Molly gave a grudging little grunt that Bill took to be acknowledgement. "I remember when I first found out about them – I mean, the real nature of their marriage. I was pissed as hell that you and him between you had forced her into that situation, but even then I could still see how much they care about each other. Look at the way he touches her. Look at how relaxed they are around each other. She didn't have that with Harry. You must know that." Molly just grunted again, but it sounded like a strong admittance of acknowledgement than the first time. "You want her to be happy, don't you?" Bill pressed.

"Of course I do!"

"Then give her your permission to be with him if that's how it works out between them," Bill said persuasively. "Not that they need it, but it will mean so much to have it."

* * *

"You care about her, don't you?"

"I've been telling you that for months, Molly. You can't live as closely as Ginny and I so and not end up either caring about each other or hating each other." Lupin managed to keep most of the crossness out of his voice, although really, he was fed up of telling his mother-in-law the same thing several times over several months.

"And you'd never hurt her? You know, with the – um – "

"With the fact I'm a werewolf?" he asked. _Now_ he was getting cross. "What, have you missed the last freaking _year_ when I haven't had my _son_ with me during a full moon. Though I wouldn't put it past Ginny one day to wait until I fall asleep then stay with me after lockdown."

Molly allowed herself a small smile. "Sounds like something she would do," she admitted. "She didn't stay put when we told her to stay in the Room of Requirement."

"I can't hurt her with the Wolfsbane," he said. "I'm paranoid about it because I remember what I was like without it but one of the key ingredients is a powerful sedative. It knocks me out, though I don't get a very good sleep without her. Not like that, I mean. I make sure she leaves half an hour before lockdown – get Sprout to make sure she's in the common room by a certain time, just to make sure she doesn't stay. No – she just stays with me, rubs my back after I get it all knotted up during a transformation. It helps me fall asleep."

"And that's all?"

"I haven't touched her sexually since our wedding night, if that's what you're getting at – well, other than before, and I'm not sorry I did that," he said defiantly.

"The look on Cho's face was priceless," Molly admitted. "You don't – you don't have feelings for her? Husbandly feelings?" she pressed.

"She's young enough to be your daughter," Lupin said shortly.

"She's old enough to be your son's mother," Molly countered, taking note of the fact Lupin had avoided answering the question.

"That's only because Teddy's young enough to be my grandson." Lupin thought of how sexy he had found her in that half-a-nightie thing of hers, and how much he'd enjoyed kissing her before. "I never wanted this, Molly. I wanted to be left alone to grieve for Tonks. But now I don't – " Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Harry approaching Ginny. "Excuse me," he said...

... "You look good," Harry told Ginny. He had been sorry that he'd hurt her, wished things could be different – wished she had been more interested in sex and maybe he never would have started noticing Cho again... especially now that she looked so good, so poised, so confident... so sexy and yet still remaining classy and dignified. What was it that Lupin had that had made her go to bed with him? What was it that made her glow like that?

"Thankyou," she said, feeling surprisingly calm to be talking to him. What she had felt for him seemed like such an adolescent crush now. "How's Cho?"

"Good. I hope you don't mind that I brought her. You didn't seem to," he added, feeling a little put out to remember the way Lupin had kissed her – and the way she had kissed him back. Like he could have devoured her there and then – and like she would have been only too happy to let him.

"A little advanced warning would have been nice but no, I don't mind," she said. She sucked on her bottom lip, still tasting her husband's mouth on hers.

"Funny how things worked out," Harry said awkwardly. "I mean – I'm happy for you, but a year ago I would never have expected this to happen."

"Harry, it's fine. If you were that easily tempted, then it wasn't going to work. I was really angry at the time – and I still wish you could have just been upfront about what you wanted and broken up with me because you weren't getting it, it would have been a hell of a lot classier than cheating on me and waiting for me to find out about it – but Remus helped me put things into perspective. I think McGonagall should give him a raise, he's been taking on two jobs – being a Professor and being a counsellor." She wasn't sure exactly what Harry was getting at. He had taken their breakup very easily, almost as if it was a relief to no longer be saddled with a girlfriend who wasn't ready to sleep with him. What was he doing now, talking about regrets and how they had expected things to work out a year ago?

"Well, whatever you've been up to, it suits you," Harry said. "You look amazing. I think even Fleur wants to wrestle you for that dress." He found himself wondering how long it would take Lupin to keep it on her when they got back to Hogwarts, and how easily those thin little straps would slide off her shoulders...

..."What?" Charlie asked George, "on earth is Harry doing?"

"Hitting on a werewolf's wife, by the looks of it," George said. "Ten galleons says it ends in a punch-up."

"Nah. Remus has this way of growling that makes far more reckless and dangerous men than Harry back off," Charlie said. "I watched him in action. I'm not sure who scares me more when it comes to Ginny, him or mum."...

... Lupin recognised that look on Harry's face. It was one he had seen plenty of times before. It was the look of a man who was lusting after his girl. And he liked it even less on Harry's face than he did on the faces of strangers. He walked up before her and placed his hands on her bare shoulders. He drummed the fingers on his left hand over her shoulder in the way he did when he was making a point about being married. "Everything alright?" he asked her.

"Fine," she said. She watched Harry take a step back and stifled a giggle to think about what kind of look her husband was shooting him from behind her.

"Dance with me?" he asked her.

"Um... yeah." She was glad to be led away from Harry. Lupin had done something that had scared Harry enough to physically back away, and he wouldn't have done that if he hadn't picked up something from Harry. He had excellent instincts when it came to other men hitting on his wife; she had relied on it in Bulgaria and Romania. "What was that about?" she asked when he took her in his arms.

"Your ex seems to be regretting his choices," Lupin said. "Fact is, _I'd_ be pretty sore about it if I were looking at you and Cho right now." He looked over to the pretty Asian girl. Cho seemed to have gotten the same feeling about Harry as he had, or maybe she had simply picked up on his territorial behaviour, but she looked pissed. _Your loss, my gain_, he thought.

"He wasn't that upset when I broke up with him," Ginny protested.

"That was when you were a virgin running around in jeans and t-shirts. You're a travelled woman now. And you look amazing." She had discarded her shawl so he wrapped his arms around her bare back.

"Thanks to you." She rested her head on his shoulder. She liked the way he had his arms wrapped around her bare back, liked the way he could be proprietary but affectionate at the same way.

"If I had my way, you'd wear heels every day," he whispered in her ear.

She laughed softly. Naturally he would know that she needed three-inch heels in order to be tall enough to rest her head on his shoulder. "You dance better than Neville," she said.

"What on earth does Neville have to do with it?"

"I haven't worn heels since the Triwizard Ball," she said. "Neville stepped on my toes several times. And managed to overbalance so I sprained my ankle."

"I don't want to talk about any other guy you've been with," he said softly. "I want to think of you as all mine, even if it's just for tonight."

She shivered with pleasure at his words. "If I'm all yours, even just for tonight, then will you kiss me again?" she asked hopefully.

He tilted her head so he was looking down at her and lowered his mouth to hers. He was more gentle than he had been when he'd kissed her earlier, but there was still that warmth, that passion. "Remus," she whispered. "Don't stop." _Never stop. Take me home and me a proper husband to me_.

_So there, _Lupin thought vaguely towards Harry, the last thought he had before he lost himself in the kiss. God, what was it about her that drove him crazy and made him forget all his intentions? _Just for tonight_, he thought. They were in public, and as a practically-newlywed couple, they were expected to be passionate. It was only for tonight. Tomorrow, they would go back to normal.

* * *

It was the early hours of the morning when he and Ginny arrived back at Hogwarts. "Get changed into something warmer," he directed her – softly, kindly, paternalistically. Her heart sank. Whatever happened to the man who was kissing her on the dancefloor? Was it just something he had done to make a point with Harry?

"Don't you want – " she asked, and he cocked his head quizzically at her as if she was just asking him if he wanted to go for a walk. "Never mind," she said. Clearly, whatever had possessed him to kiss her had dissipated at the end of the party.

She went to her room and undressed quickly, changing into the stupid, childish pyjamas that her husband thought better suited her than the slinky, sexy nightie that Fleur had suggested. She threw the dress across the room, and the stupid heels with it, frustrated that every man at the party had wanted her – excepted, it seemed, her husband.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, guys! Kind of a short chapter (actually longer than it was since I added the scene with Harry) but quite pivotal, along with the next chapter. Hope you enjoy and thanks everyone for reading and replying! **

"Remus, I'm sorry. I've got no idea what I was thinking."

"I do. You dumped your girlfriend because she wasn't hot enough for you and now that she's suddenly all adult, you wanted her back," Lupin said. He was surprised how difficult it was to keep a reign on his feelings of territorialism. It wasn't like Ginny was really his wife.

Harry squirmed. "You're right," he said in a small voice. "She looked incredible and it occoured to me that I made a huge mistake. And you know what? I even know that part of why she looks incredible is because of you. Being married to you suits her."

"Yeah, it does," Lupin said coolly. He saw Harry flinched and felt a little bad; it was clear that the younger man felt bad that he'd been acting flirtatiously towards another man's wife - particularly a man who he considered to be a quasi-uncle figure - but couldn't help himself. He told himself that it was because anyone hitting on Ginny was showing him a disrespect. "She's my _wife_, Harry. You wouldn't have hit on Tonks, would you?" Harry shook his head, aghast at the very idea. "Then don't hit on Ginny. I'm serious, Harry. Don't test me. It's a really fucking stupid idea to make a werewolf jealous."

There was a glint in Lupin's eyes that reminded Harry a little of Molly when it came to her children, only more territorial. He considered Ginny to be his and would brook no tolerance for other men behaving inappropriate towards her. He had always considered Lupin to be so laid back, but right now, he had no doubt that Lupin could be very vindictive if he felt him and his were being disrespected. "Of course, I'm sorry."

Lupin looked intently at Harry before deciding that the younger man would never make the mistake of showing inappropriate interest in Ginny again. "I'm glad we've got that settled," he said

Within a week, the entire wizarding community had heard that Lupin had had some very strong words with Harry and that Ginny Lupin was not someone you wanted to trifle with.

* * *

"OK, I've gone over my predecessor's notes and some of them are quite, are, _enlightening_ – particularly Carrow's," Lupin said to his class, with laughter ensuing. The Carrows had been hard-core even for Death Eater, and under Amycus, DADA had been shorted to just Dark Arts. "I'm meant to be teaching you about werewolves but you seem to have a somewhat comprehensive education anyway," he said ironically. At this point, they'd had six different DADA teachers – seven, if you counted him twice – who had all taught in different ways. "There's nothing in a textbook that's worth teaching you. So I'll do you all a deal. If you promise not to ask about either of my marriages – " he looked pointedly at Sarah Callahan at that – "I promise to answer any question you have to the best of my abilities."

"Really?" Jeff Adams asked him.

"Yeah, really," Lupin said. There was silence. "Oh, come on; don't tell me you'd all rather gossip among yourselves?"

"Does it hurt?" Jeff asked, staring at Lupin with insolence.

Lupin responded by flexing the fingers on his left hand noticeably. But it was a fair question. "Less so with each breakthrough the make with Wolfsbane. Now it's more uncomfortable than anything. Apparently I've been dislocating my shoulder every full moon by the way I sleep and never knew it."

"How can you not know something like that?" a Ravenclaw girl named Ali asked.

"The human body is not meant to transform like that. I always feel achy, it was just one more thing that was sore."

"Well, that, but what I actually meant was how come you never realised you sleep funny before?" Ali asked. "Did no-one ever tell you?"

"I don't share a room with anyone during the full moon, Ali," Lupin said. "Despite the best efforts of certain people," he added dryly.

"But why – I mean, if you're not dangerous – um..."

"Did I make Ginny go back to her dorm during the full moon?" Lupin offered. It was discussing his marriage, and he caught her eye. She nodded slightly, giving her permission. "Because I remember what I was like before the Wolfsbane. Maybe if I had grown up with it, I'd feel differently. And because my rooms go into lockdown at twilight, which at this time of year is four in the afternoon and I am not letting someone give up fifteen hours of the day, no matter how much they protest. And because have any of you guys actually _met_ Molly Weasley? She's terrifying. She killed the most powerful Death Eater Voldermort had for threatening Ginny. I'd rather stay on her good side." There was laughter at that. There were eleven years between Bill and Ginny, which made Molly something of a Hogwarts institution as far as parents went.

"What about bigots?" Jen Roberts, a friend of Ginny's asked.

"There's always going to be bigotry," Lupin said. "It's actually gotten better since the invention of Wolfsbane. Some people now at least get that it can be controlled, even if they'd still rather send their kids to Durmstrang then have me teach them. I was eighteen when it was invented, so I'm old enough to remember how scared people were of werewolves. There's definitely a kinder attitude now. There's always going to be people who are determined to hate anything that's not human but it's getting better – and I think people are beginning to realise that part of what made Voldermort achieve the power he did was by offering power to groups that humans had repressed."

"But – and I mean no offense – but werewolves have such a bad reputation. I mean, there was that Greyback guy – " Jen said.

"Fenrir Greyback. He was the one who sired – sorry, bit me. And it's kind of a chick-or-egg situation. Werewolves are outcasts, so they form packs and the resentment stews. They attack and the fear against them grows and the cycle continues. A lot of parents just abandon their kids if they get bitten so they get adopted by the pack and grow up not knowing any other life. I was raised as a human by my parents at great cost to them so the life they lead as a pack disgusts me, but I'm very much the exception, not the rule."

"So you've never – " A Hufflepuff boy ventured.

"I've never bitten a human, no. Bit myself a lot when I was isolated, but never another human."

"But don't you have – er – appetites?" the boy asked.

"I've never bitten, so I've never had that appetite whet. From what I understand, the more you indulge in the appetite, the more you feel you need to feed it. Greyback got to a point where he was semi-transformed the entire month because he indulged in more and more human flesh." Lupin shuddered at the memory. "He's in Azkaban now, being fed on raw steaks. I'm sure he'd rather be dead."

"Professor?" Jen asked tentatively, because her question was bordering close to his no-go rule. "Does it happen often? Werewolves getting married, I mean?"

"More often than you would think. I'm just rather high-profile. It's actually far less common to get married professors."

"Do they frown on it, sir?"

Lupin laughed. "Hardly. But it's a tough job to have a relationship in. It's too far to commute to anywhere so you're looking at weekends and holidays. It's not something you can really do unless your spouse is teaching or willing to live in the castle with nothing to do."

"Or be a student," Jeff said snidely.

"Or be a student," Lupin agreed. "Ten points to the first person who can tell me the last married professor this school had."

"That would be your father-in-law... _sir_," Sarah said with as much snideness as Jeff.

"That would be Ted Tonks, yes," Lupin said. Ginny flashed him a look of confusion. He flashed her one back. _Trust me. I know what I'm doing_. "He lasted a grand total of six month before he cracked from missing his wife and daughter. We made fun of him a lot behind his back – and yes, I am very aware of that irony. Of all the dumb things I did when I was a student, that's the one that always comes to mind first. If someone told me I couldn't have my wife and son with me, I'd stick around for all of the six seconds it would take me to resign. Anyway, I've let us drift off-topic. Surely there must be something you guys want to ask me..."

"Nice job, Professor Lupin," Ginny teased at the end of the lesson. A few well-chosen references had left no-one in doubt as to how he felt about her – however put-on it was between tem – and left Jeff and Sarah writhing in jealousy.

"I like to think so, Miss Weasley," Lupin returned. Cheekily, he grabbed her ass before wrapping one arm around Ginny's waist and then his free hand he used to direct Teddy's pram with surprising dexterity. He liked the way she leaned her head against his shoulder and her hair swung out over his arm. And the way she smelled of lilacs. She didn't stay at the dinner table for much longer than he did, giving him enough time to finish his dinner in private – she didn't care if he liked his meat raw, but he did. He let her jump up on his bed. "I'm going to teach you how to play poker," he said.

"What's that?"

"It's a muggle card game. Though I learnt it from Tonks and she learnt it from her dad, so I've no idea how correct I've got it." He waved his wand to make a decanter of firewhisky appear. A few wouldn't hurt, and he felt this urge to do something adult – not in _that_ sense of the word – with Ginny.

"Dad says I'm not supposed to drink that," she said.

Lupin laughed. "OK, one, you're overage, so he can't say what you can and can't do. And two, I'm your next of kin, so I reckon that means my word supersedes his. But I'm not going to make you drink it."

He went to procure her a bottle of butterbeer, but she stopped him. "No! I – I want to try it." He poured her a glass and she went to gulp it like she would a butterbeer.

He stopped her, laughing. "Sip it, love, or you'll make yourself sick and I don't particularly care to challenge the line between giving a student alcohol and giving my wife alcohol."

The firewhisky burned at first, then she felt a delicious warm feeling in her stomach. She curled up beside him and he wrapped am arm casually around her. "OK, now here are the rules," he said, but it soon became clear that Ginny had no mind for a game that didn't involve magic, and the firewhisky wasn't helping. Giggling, Ginny tossed the cards onto the floor and pressed her weight down on Lupin's chest.

"You're really thin," she giggled.

"And you, my dear, are really drunk," he replied. "You're lucky I've got a stronger head for the stuff or I'd be taking shameless advantage of you."

She giggled again. "I thought there was no such thing as taking shameless advantage. What was that word – con – "

"Conjuical rights," he supplied. He suddenly felt very awkward. Ginny was drunk and he didn't want to start thinking about sex.

"Conjuical rights," she parroted. "You can take advantage of me anytime, Remus."

He frowned. "Don't talk like that."

"Like what? A wife?" she challenged.

"Like a drunk teenage girl. You don't know what you're saying."

She glared at him. "You don't get it, do you? I know _exactly_ what I'm saying." And she launched herself at him and kissed him clumsily. And despite that clumsiness, he liked it. More than liked it. When her tongue slipped into his mouth, he found himself kissing her back and for the first time since before he'd found out about Tonks's pregnancy, he truly felt like he belonged to someone.

Then he realised what they were doing and he pushed her away. "No," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because you're drunk... and young enough to be my daughter."

"Old enough to be you _wife_," she corrected.

She went to kiss him again, and he pushed her away before he could get sucked into the chemistry they shared. "No," he repeated.

"Why not? We're already married. People think we're going at it every night."

"You parents don't. My _boss_ doesn't."

"So?" she asked, hands on hips, eyes flashing him challengingly. "They were the ones that made us get married in the first place. They can't make us live together and then expect nothing to happen. And everyone else – even my _brothers_, even _Harry_ – think I'm sleeping with someone – _old enough to be my father_ – so what's the goddamn problem?"

"OK, you want to know what the goddamn problem is? I can't give you any children, Ginny."

She stared at him blankly. "But – you have Teddy – "

"Yeah, I have Teddy. And I have no idea how I got Teddy. I thought I – my kind – couldn't breed or I would have been more careful. Don't get me wrong, he's everything to me, but so many could have gone wrong... I could have put an animal in her – I could have _killed_ her with it. I won't take that risk again, Ginny. I can't give you children and I can't be a proper husband to you. _That's_ what the goddamn problem is. Now kindly get the hell out of my room." She just sat there, staring at him incomprehensively for a few seconds, until he lunged at her, grabbing her around her tiny waist and hauling her into her own room. She kicked and screamed at the indignity when he threw her on the bed. "And you want another – _goddamn problem? _You're behaving like a rejected teenager!" he yelled at her. "Now _stay there_. I can't use magic on you, but I can beat you into submission if that's what it takes to keep you out of my room," he snarled, storming off and slamming the door behind her, leaving her in a flood of tears.

He was contrite in the morning. She had been drunk and acted inappropriately, but he had been sober and had some experience in deflecting unwanted interested. His lips curved into a grim smile. Her interest hadn't exactly been unwanted... more like _futile_. "Love, I'm sorry I behaved that way towards you last night," he said softly. She flinched when he tried to touch her and he could see that her face was all splotchy again. "Please don't be like this," he pleaded. "I want us to be friends." He picked up the brush and started running it through Ginny's hair. He loved the way her hair felt in his hands, like flowing fire. She didn't object to it, and even leaned her head back slightly in enjoyment.

Finally, she said, "I'm sorry for the way I acted last night. I was drunk and – it's tough sometimes," she admitted. "I really like being around you, and you have to admit – there's a spark there," she added.

"Yeah," Lupin admitted, sounding like he didn't want to. "There's a spark." In fact, there was much more than a spark. Her kissing him had awakened something in him that he felt he would never feel again – would have been quite happy to never feel again. Even now, he wanted to flip her onto her back and screw her brains out. "And I'm sorry you're going through this. You're seventeen, you should be with someone your own age. Instead you're stuck with this forty-year-old werewolf who can't be any kind of husband or father than you. I did warn you that you'd prefer being disgraced to being married to me."

She thought about the consequences of being disgraced because people thought she'd been with a werewolf – no decent man would be interested in her, and plenty of nasty ones would see her as far game. She shuddered at the thought. No, being married to Lupin and having his protection was infinitely better than being disgraced. "It's done now," she said flatly.

He stopped brushing her hair and kissed the back of her head. "You're right, it's done now and I hope we can be friends."

"Friends," she agreed softly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, guys! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Ther's been some confusion about Teddy's paternity from the last chapter - basically my take is that Lupin *honestly* thought he was sterile and freaked when Tonks got pregnant 'cos he was worried about what kind of child he could potentially conceive, and that Teddy *being* human doesn't negate that he potentially *might not* have been. I never meant to imply that Tonks had cheated on him or that he ever thought he had, just that he thought he couldn't have children when he could and the thought freaks him out. So he's decided not to take that risk again and feels like it's unfair to get involved with Ginny for real when he won't have any more children. Of course it all gets resolved in the end - but not for a good many chapters. Get ready for some serious angst and whumping...**

It was a Quiddich game, Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor, and it became apparent early on that Sarah Callahan, as a Beater, was tailing Ginny, the Seeker, out of malice, aiming bludgers at her at every opportunity, even when it meant abandoning her post. Ginny was actually used to that kind of underhanded behaviour; she was a damn good player and a damn good Seeker in particular, and it was in the opposition's best interest to throw her off course, even injure her to the point she couldn't continue the game. But Sarah wasn't gunning for her because she was the Gryffindor seeker; she was gunning for her because she was Lupin's wife.

The crowd groaned as a bludger met Ginny's head by a few centimetres; even with her helmet on, the force Sarah had hit it at would have resulted in a concussion – at best. Even the Ravenclaw students were getting angry at Sarah for using her position on the team for taking out a personal grudge.

Meanwhile, Dennis Creavey was manning the magically-enhanced microphone and giving a polite, staid commentary. Watching a bludger miss his wife's head by a few centimetres was more than he could take. He marched over to Dennis and yanked the microphone out of his hands. "You're being far too polite," he said. "Ginny Lupin!" he screamed with malicious glee through the microphone. "I didn't face your mother's wrath to marry a lady. Knock that tramp off her broomstick!"

Weather it was the shock of him referring to her by his name that threw Sarah off-centre or the thrill it gave Ginny, Ginny swung herself around in her broomstick, creating a tailwind that forced Sarah backwards. The wind seemed to be knocked out of Sarah and she went into a fall, skidding awkwardly on the ground. "Serves you right, you bitch!" Lupin screamed through the microphone. "That'll teach you!"

"Remus!" a shocked McGonagall admonished Lupin. Looking suitably chastised, Lupin handed back the microphone to Dennis. He had achieved what he had wanted, anyway – even if he hadn't actually known what he'd wanted when he'd snatched the microphone out of Dennis's grasp, except to make that nasty girl pay. But Sarah was out of the game and there was a roar of approval as Ginny grabbed the Snitch, winning the game for Gryffindor. The team tried to congregate around Ginny, but she used her superior flying skills to manoeuvre away from them all, coming to an abrupt stop in front of her husband and dismounting her broom with a speed and agility that he could never hope to acquire. Not that that really mattered now.

She threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. He yanked her helmet off her head before kissing her very passionately and very publicly. He wrapped one arm around her waist and used his free hand to yank her long plain free of the ribbon tying it, combing his fingers through her hair to unweave the plait.

He started pulling at the buckles on her vest. "Sorry I asked you to wear all this," he said. It felt like her safety vest and shoulder, leg and arm pads that all felt like they were made of steel as he attempted to unstrap them. "Damnit, it's like being with a man," he complained about the restrictive vest that flattened all her curves.

"Oh, and you would know, would you?" she asked flippantly. She'd always had her suspicions as to the exact nature of his and Sirius Black's closeness, but she better than to ask, and besides, she didn't see that it mattered...

"Can you tell he's never played Quidditch?" Jen asked a Hufflepuff friend of hers, who grinned to watch Lupin's clumsy attempts to undo her vest.

"I want to know how far he'll go," the friend replied. The two seemed so lost in their kiss that it wouldn't surprise them if they had forgotten that they had an audience. But Lupin stopped at her vest, yanking it off and tossing it to the ground. He grabbed Ginny's hips and hoisted her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist and went back to kissing her passionately.

Tongues in each other's mouths, arms wrapped tightly around each other, they rocked slightly together as they kissed hungrily. "Ginny, Ginny, Ginny," Lupin moaned into her mouth. He was glad he had divested her of her vest because now he could feel her soft, rounded breasts pressed up against his chest. "Ginny, my love – you were brilliant out there – fucking brilliant – ah..." And he went back to plundering her mouth with his tongue. He slid his hands across her hips to grab her ass.

"This mean you want to take advantage of me?" she teased. "Ready to be a proper husband?"

"_Fuck, yes_." There had been something about watching her play out there that had driven him wild with the desire to be with her in every sense of the world. He wouldn't take the risk of fathering another child, but he was more than ready to be a proper husband.

He moved his mouth to the side of her neck, and she knew what he was planning to do. She wanted him to do it, but knew that if he did it in such a public place, his actions would be misconstrued. Reluctantly, she grabbed his hair and dragged his head back up to eye level. "Remus, no," she said. "Not so publicly. People will think you're trying to bite me. Later," she promised.

Suddenly they became aware of the applause around them. Even though everyone knew they were married, no-one had seen them in such a public display of affection – actually, no-one had seen _anyone_ in such a public display of affection at Hogwarts for a while. It did people good to see such a happy, affectionate couple after so much death and devastation.

* * *

"Ginny, ah, that's it – a little faster – yeah, like that – oh, _yes_, Ginny, love, I'm almost there, I'm almost there – _ahhhhhh..._" he screamed as he thrust his hips, his erection thrusting into his hand, his seed spilling between her fingers. On top of her, he worked his own fingers frantically under her panties, his thumb stroking her clitoris, his fingers inside her until she was spasming wildly and climaxing herself.

He had refused to have sex with her because he didn't have any condoms on him – he had thrown them out in a fit of disgust after their disastrous wedding night – and had been determined to keep their actions to simply making out, but somehow her hand had ended up down his pants, stroking his penis in a damn-good hand-job for someone who had never given one before. And of course he couldn't be a selfish, greedy husband and take all the pleasure for himself; he'd felt compelled to return the favour. The feel of her slick womanhood pulsing around his fingers had seriously testing his resolve – even more so because he knew Ginny wouldn't have minded if he'd ripped off her jeans and panties and taken her lustfully.

Panting, he rolled onto his back and zipped himself up before he got any more ideas. His eyes lingered over her bare breasts from where he'd pushed her top and bra up. Despite himself, he reached over and flicked his thumb over her nipple. She squirmed and murmured pleasurably. "Remus," she cried out, the effects of her orgasm still lingering. "Oh, God, I want you _so much..._"

"Me, too, love," he said, reluctantly pulling his hand away; if he didn't, he might end up having his way with her. "You should get going," he said. There was a party in the Gryffindor house, and she, being the Seeker, was the guest of honour.

"I'll just make an appearance and then come back," she promised breathlessly.

"No... you should stay in your own bed tonight. Your dorm bed, I mean," he added, realising that from now on, _this_ would be her bed. "I don't trust myself around you and I really want to use a condom, Gin. You'll be grateful when you _don't_ have Merlin-knows-what growing inside you."

She nodded. She appreciated the risks Lupin had taken with Teddy, and that it wasn't something he was willing to chance again, although of course knowing she would never have a child with him was a blow. Reluctantly, she got up. "How do I look?" she asked.

"Like you've been going at it with your husband," Lupin said smugly. "You do realise that _everyone_ will think you're late because we were screwing each other's brains out?"

"It's what they think we've been doing twenty-five nights a month, anyway," she retorted, trembling, because by this time tomorrow, it would be true. "You won't forget to go into London tomorrow?" she asked. Contraception was, if not quite outright illegal, then definitely frowned up in the magical community, and as such, the spells and potions that were available were highly varied in quality and reliability. Lupin preferred to use condoms; it was one thing that the muggles had vastly exceeded them in effectiveness.

Lupin laughed at her obvious concern. "Love, I will _walk_ to London tomorrow if that's what it takes to get you in my bed. And I wanted to talk to your parents, too," he added.

Ginny looked at him suspiciously. "Why?" she asked.

"Because they have a right to know about us," he said calmly.

Predictably, she exploded. "They've got no right to no anything!" she stormed at him. "They forfeited that right when they made us marry. She didn't give a shit about how I felt so long as I was married." She shuddered, remember their humiliating wedding night.

Lupin knew exactly what he was thinking about. "That was as much my fault as it was your mother's," he said quietly. "And I don't notice you hating _me_. Love, I'm not planning on asking for their permission. I just think they have a right to hear it from _us_ rather than through the grapevine. We weren't exactly discreet today. And it might mean that eventually they accept us – but they won't, if they hear it through someone else that we're living together properly."

"You won't let her bully you into leaving me?" she asked.

He laughed reassuringly. "My dear, I am going to get more than my share of pleasure out of pointing out that she bullied me into marrying you in the first place, she doesn't get to complain now."

* * *

"You're _radiating_," Jen said knowingly to Ginny, who was indeed radiating. She looked like a newlywed. "Are you pregnant?" she couldn't resist asking.

Ginny shook her head. "Remus won't dare risk it," she admitted, and she explained his reservations about Teddy.

"Then what is it?" Jen asked.

Ginny thought quickly, marrying the truth to a good lie. "Mum made him marry me because we got drunk one night and... she knew no other man would ever have me. He didn't want to – he made it clear that he was still in love with _her_," she said, not being able to bring herself to mention Tonks by name. "But now..." she blushed, thinking of the way Lupin had touched her very recently.

"Then why are you still here?" Jen asked incredulously.

"He's got to go to London to get muggle contraception. I told you, he won't take the risk of getting me pregnant. He wants me to stay here tonight."

Jen nodded understandingly. "And you can deal with that?" she asked. "Never having children? That doesn't bother you?"

"Of course it bothers me," Ginny said. "But not enough that I want anyone but him."

A few meters away, Jeff Adams overheard Ginny and Jen talking and he gripped his glass jealously. He had never understood what she had seen in Lupin, when she had barely allowed him to touch her. And now it turned out that they had only married after being caught out together in a moment of loneliness – while he was still hung up over his late wife. He had never treated Ginny like a real wife – and yet she still wanted him!

He eyed her with a combination of jealousy and rage. She was radiating, there was no doubt about that, and it killed Jeff to know what the source of that radiation was. She would rather have a werewolf then him! A man old enough to be her father than a man her own age!

The party wound down in the early hours of the morning and Ginny went back to her own room. She had her own room as a Head Girl, which she kept telling Sprout was a complete waste as she was hardly ever in it, but tonight she was glad for it. It meant she could be alone with her thoughts and not suffer another girl wanting to congratulate her or ask her about her marriage.

She was drifting off to sleep when the door to her bedroom opened. She groaned and turned around onto her stomach. "Go away," she said, pulling her pillow over her head.

Too late she realised that whoever had entered her room was a threat, not a friend. She twisted back around to grab her wand but it was already in the hands of Jeff Adams with the basic 'Accio' spell. She bolted up in bed, suddenly glad that she was wearing her winter pyjamas that covered her from neck to ankle. "Give me that back," she said, feeling the panic start in her stomach. Jess wasn't in her bedroom in the middle of the night having taken her wand from her because he wanted a friendly chat.

"Silencio!" he hissed at her, and when she tried to scream her no sound came out. He threw an Imperturbable Spell against the wall. "You ungrateful, prick-teasing _slut_," he hissed at her, approaching the bed. He dropped both their wands well out of reaching distance, knowing that he was stronger than her and could beat her in a physical fight if not a magical one. "God, what kind of sick tramp are you that you'd rather be with a _werewolf_ than with a pureblood?"

She glared at him defiantly, unable to speak. So that was this was about, was it? What, were there not enough bigoted purebloods in Slytherin? She screamed herself raw and it did her no good as Jeff advanced on her. "Well, you can't turn me down _now_," he said triumphantly, and he grabbed her as she jumped off the bed and bolted for the door. "No, you don't," he said gleefully, grabbing her by the waist and flinging her back down on the bed. She pummelled her fists against his chest and scratched at his face, which achieved nothing. He kissed her hard, making Lupin's rough kisses when he had deflowered her seem gentlemanly in comparison. "You like that, don't you?" he asked smugly. He moved his hand under her pyjama top, pulling at the buttons, tearing at the material until it fell away from her body. "I knew you'd have a great pair of tits," he said crassly, lowering his head and biting on one. She went rigid with pain. "Your werewolf bite you?" he asked in a taunting voice. "I bet he does. I bet you beg him to." He slid his free hand down under her pyjama bottoms, pushing his fingers inside her roughly. "Do you scream when he fucks you? Are you going to scream for me?" He shoved his fingers hard inside her so even though she couldn't speak, she bucked violently against him. Her reaction seemed to satisfy him. "Here was me thinking you wanted it all nice and gentle when actually you wanted it rough – you wanted to be with an animal – well, I'll _give_ you an animal." And he struck her hard across the face, relishing the way her head snapped back and she started to cry.

For the next hour he struck out at her, marking her face and body with his fists, forcing himself inside her. She felt herself screaming as he raped her, although no sound came out. She was bone-dry so even though Jeff's erection was considerably less than Lupin's, it was more painful. Not to mention the degradation of it. When she'd been with Lupin, no matter how humiliating it had been, she had known that it had to be done and that he was trying to make it easier for her, even if it had failed somewhat miserably. But Jeff – Jeff was enjoying hurting her, degrading her, taking from her something he had always felt entitled to – and always resented her for choosing someone else. "Your werewolf's possessive, isn't he?" Jeff crooned in her ear. As he pumped her mercilessly. "He's never going to want to touch you again now that I've been all over you." And to make a point, he grabbed her ass and squeezed it roughly.

Eventually, mercifully, it was over. Jeff got off her and looked at her with disgust now that he had what he wanted. "You're just a tramp, now," he said with contempt. "No man's gonna want you – not even that _animal_. Especially not him." Laughing, he punched her in the face again, the blow sending her feeling into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Remus, what a surprise," Molly said when she saw none other than her son-in-law at the front door. "I was just making a pot of tea. Would you like some?"

He followed Molly into the kitchen – it looked as cluttered as ever, despite the fact she only had two children living at home, George and Ron, unless you counted the fact that Hermione Granger was over every other day. "How's Ginny?" Molly asked when she handed Lupin a cup of her famous tea. "Still happy? I hadn't heard anything since George's party and – well – you guys were pretty cosy."

She said this was surprising calmness. "I know you don't approve, Molly, but we do love each other," Lupin said with quiet conviction.

Molly's eyes narrowed as she realised what Lupin was getting at. Part of him was an animal, with an animal's sexual appetites, and he had been sharing a confined living space with an attractive young woman. "You fucked her," she said, the anger in her voice apparent despite her flat tone.

"No, I didn't, and I've no intention of – _fucking_ – her," Lupin said. "She's my _wife_, and I intend on treating her with the respect she deserves."

"You said it would be the one time," Molly said, her voice now shaking with anger.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, what exactly did you _think_ would happen?" Lupin asked. "Tonks is the one who's dead, not me. You forced us to get married, forced us to live together, and you have the nerve to be pissed off at me when we realised we quite _liked_ being together? _You_ insisted on this, Molly, you don't get to be all high-and-mighty that it didn't turn out the way you wanted."

"She deserves better than you," Molly said plaintively.

"Yeah, she does. But it's me she wants and if you try and convince her otherwise, I promise you won't see her again."

"You bastard, you wouldn't dare."

"I think you'll find I have an awful lot of rights as her husband. Including not to have my marriage interfered with."

"You lay a finger on my little girl and I'll never speak to either of you again," Molly said.

"What, the idea of me sleeping with her revolts you?" Lupin sneered. "Didn't seem to bother you when I had to drug her on her wedding night." He took a perverse amount of pleasure when he saw Molly flinch. "Molly, i didn't come here to argue with you. I thought you deserved the courtesy to know that we intend on living a proper marriage. We're not doing anything worse than practically everyone already thinks so it's not like her reputation will suffer for it. I was hoping for you acceptance but I – _we_ – can live without it." He sighed, sorry that he hadn't made any leeway with Molly. "Clearly, this has been a waste of time. You know where to find us if you're willing to accept our marriage."

As he turned to go, a tawny owl that was one of Hogwarts' flock came zooming in the window, dropping a letter in Lupin's hand. He opened it, wondering who from the school would bother trying to contact him. His heart fell as he skimmed the contents of the letter.

_Ginny's been badly assaulted. She's in a critical condition. Taken her to St. Mungo's. Get there as soon as possible. Minerva. _


	12. Chapter 12

"You don't need to be here. You're not her real husband."

Lupin stared at Molly, dumbfounded by her complete lack of sensitivity. But then – she wasn't considering herself to be insensitive. She considered herself to be Ginny's mother, the most important person in her life along with Arthur, and Lupin as little more than a fraud. He clutched as her hand, which seemed so much more fragile than usual. She was considered to be an adult, but he was suddenly reminded more sharply than ever that she was little more than a child – certainly, young enough to be _his_ child.

He could scarcely believe what had happened. Ginny hadn't showed up for her classes all day, and Sprout had finally been sent to investigate, only to find her brutally beaten and obviously raped, her pulse thready, a lot of blood lost. They had fixed her up physically, but there was no rousing her from the deep trance she was in, or taken the pale pallor from her face. "She's suffered deep trauma," one of the Healers had explained. "She'll come out of it when she's ready. Right now, she needs your support."

Molly interpreted 'your' support as hers and Arthur's and made it clear that his presence was neither required nor desired – even though the owl had been sent to Lupin, not Molly or Arthur. Lupin responded by plonking himself down beside Ginny's death and grabbing her hand tightly, as if by doing so he could physically anchor her to him. "Remus, you don't have to be here," Molly repeated.

"I have more right to be here then you do," he said shortly, not taking his eyes off Ginny. She was so pale, and her red hair just emphasised the lack of blood in her face. "I'm so sorry, love," he whispered, momentarily forgetting in his grief and guilt that Molly and Arthur were there. "I shouldn't have made you stay there. I should have exerted more self-control."

"What do you mean, you should have exerted more self-control?" Molly asked shrilly, eying him suspiciously like he, and not the boy who had attacked her, was the sole reason her daughter was lying in a hospital bed. "Remus!" she yelled, pointing her wand at her face. "_What do you mean_?"

"I wanted her, OK!" Lupin said defensively. "Don't make me feel like some fucking predator for being attracted to my own damn wife. I wanted her and I didn't have any protection on me and didn't want to risk getting her pregnant so I made her spend the night in the Gryffindor tower. If I'd kept her with me, it would never have happened." He shivered, remembering how Jeff Adams had just waltzed into their rooms. So maybe that wouldn't even have worked, although he'd since put a much stronger seal on the door.

"You _wanted_ her," Molly said, her bottom lip curling in disgust, making it sound like he had wanted her like an animal, and that his lust was as much the reason for Ginny being here as if he himself had done it to her. "Your marriage was supposed to _protect_ her."

Lupin moaned pitifully at that and buried his head in his free hand. "You think I'm not thinking that exact same thing?" he asked. He took Ginny's hand and kissed it. "I'm so sorry," he said again.

He was so sincere in his guilt – even if undeserved – that it was easy for Molly to blame him for Ginny being here. "Get your hands off you, you bastard!" she shrieked at him relieved to have someone to take her overwrought nerves out on. "Get your hands off her and get out!"

"Molly – " Arthur tried to interject.

"I don't want to hear it! He said it himself, he should have been with her! Get out! _Get out!_"she screamed hysterically at Lupin.

"I'm not leaving my wife," Lupin said with as much dignity as he could muster given the guilt he felt. He felt sick to realise that Jeff had had access to her on another three nights, during the last full moon. He hadn't – Lupin would have been able to smell him on her if he had – but that didn't mean that he hadn't been _able_ to. "You said you wouldn't speak to either of us again? Well, here's your chance to prove it."

"Remus, she didn't mean – " Arthur tried to say.

Lupin's eyes flashed dangerously in his father-in-law's direction "I know exactly what she meant. She wanted me to marry her but she can't stand the idea o us being a proper couple. Well, if you can't be supportive, then you can get out. Both of you."

"Remus – "

"I said to get out!" Lupin screamed at Arthur. "I'm her husband, my wishes are the only ones that count!"

Molly looked like he was going to hex him, maybe use the same spell that she had on Bellatrix, thereby nullifying any claim he had over Molly and Arthur, but Arthur took her gently by the elbow, murmuring some soothing words about coming back later when tempers were more settled. When they had left, Lupin took both Ginny's hands in his. To think it had been less than thirty-six hours since they'd been kissing in front of the entire school and making plans to live properly as husband and wife. If only he'd been able to control himself – if only he'd taken her up on her offer to return to their rooms after making a brief appearance at the Gryffindor house. And now she was lying in a hospital bed in some kind of trance, possibly unable to bring herself to face the brutal way in which she'd been violated. "I'm so sorry," he said again, and started to sob and the thought of losing a second wife in less than a year.

* * *

"Can I come in or did your 'get out' apply to all the Weasleys?"

Lupin looked up tiredly to see Bill standing hopefully by the door. "S'long as you don't start up on the crap about me not being a real husband. Actually," he said, his lips curved into a grim smile, "I was curious who Molly would send."

Bill took a seat on the other side of Ginny's bed. "You haven't seriously been here this whole time?" he asked incredulously.

"I get anxious whenever she's out of my sight," he admitted. "I know he's not going to try again, but – I keep coming back to the fact that if I hadn't made her spend the night there in the first place, none of this would have happened."

"You sure it was this Adams guy? I'm not calling you a liar, Remus, but, well, it's quite an allegation to make. That's an Azkaban offence."

"He'll wish he went to Azkaban if I ever get a hold of him," Lupin growled. Jeff Adams had, naturally, bolted once it had become known that Remus Lupin had both a phenomenal sense of smell and a fierce sense of vengeance – in other words, he would soon enough work out who his wife's rapist was and exact vengeance. "And yes, I do know. He barged into my rooms one day. Took me a day to get rid of his smell. It's coming of Ginny in waves."

"Must be driving you crazy."

"I never stop wanting to throw up. It's going to be a while before it fades."

"You think you can deal with that?" Bill asked mildly.

Lupin looked sharply at him. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Well, you just said yourself, you're picking up this other guy off her and it makes you sick. Is that something you think you can overcome?"

"I can damn well try," he said. "I'm not going to abandon her for something that wasn't her fault." He reached out and tucked a stray clump of hair that had fallen loose in her twisting and turning behind her ear. "We were so close to getting together – for real, I mean," he said.

"Yeah, heard about the Quiddich match, too," Bill interjected with a grin. "Apparently that kind of public display of affection was good for school morale. Though I heard there were bets going as to whether or not you'd go at it on the freaking pitch."

Lupin flashed Bill a small smile. "I'm not one for big public displays of affection – except when it comes to making a point with certain students. There was just something about that moment – I couldn't stand watching Sarah attack her anymore – there was this surge of emotions and I knew I couldn't deny them any more. I just kind of... acted."

"You know she's been wanting you to act for weeks?" Bill asked. "She got Fleur to send her stuff that was a little – er – sexier than those teddy-bear print jammies that she loves so much."

Lupin laughed ironically at that. "I thought she had interpreted my suggestion that she dress a little more mature a little too much and didn't know how sexy she looked. I had no idea that was her idea of coming onto me." Ginny moaned in her unconsciousness and Lupin reached out to hold her hand. "I'm here, love," he whispered hoarsely. Bill looked away, feeling like a voyeur. For a few seconds he concentrated on Ginny, before turning his attention back on Bill. "Your parents can visit if they want – if they lay off the crap about me not being her real husband."

"Thankyou."

"I'm serious, Bill. I won't tolerate it. I'm her husband. That's how your mum wanted it and now she can live with it."

* * *

Ginny screamed in her unconscious. Lupin grabbed her hand and tried not to flinch as she squeezed it wildly. "It's OK, I'm here," he whispered hoarsely. For a week now she'd been in a state of unconsciousness, alternating between comatose-like silence, soft moaning and wild screaming. With his free hand, he stroked her forehead. "I'm here, love. I won't leave you. I won't let anyone hurt you."

She quietened under his touch and it gave him an idea. Kicking off his shoes, he slipped into bed with her – at least no-one could accuse him of inappropriate behaviour. He wrapped his arms around her waist, over her shirt, she could swear he felt her relax a little in his arms. "I'm here," he said again. "I'm not going to leave you."

* * *

"Easy, love. You don't want to overexert yourself. You've been through a lot." Lupin rested his hand gently on his wife's shoulder, wanting to push her down onto the bed as she struggled to sit up, but not wanting to restrain her.

She lay back down on the bed. "Where am I?"

"St. Mungo's. You've been here for just over a week. What do you remember?"

She allowed her thoughts to flit back to that night over a week ago when Jeff had come into her room and cast a spell on her before she'd been able to defend herself. Her eyes filled with tears to think of the pain and humiliation he'd inflicted on her. Then she turned on her side, her back to Lupin. "Go away," she cried when he tried to put his hand on her shoulder, shrugging it off with all the strength she could muster. "I know what the consequence for infidelity is, Remus. Please don't make it worse and drag it out."

His eyes went wide with surprise as he realised that Ginny was convinced he would leave her. "You really have been out of it the last week," he commented. "I'm not going to leave you, I must've said that a hundred times."

"But I – "

"You were the victim of a jealous ex who couldn't stand the thought that you might love someone else," Lupin said calmly. "What kind of man would I be if I held that against you. Look at me, please," he begged. Slowly, Ginny turned to face him. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop it," he said. "But he will never hurt you again. And you don't have to go back there if you don't want to. I've spoken to McGonagall, you can stay with Bill and Fleur next full moon if you want. As for us... Ginny, I want to have a proper life with you. I can't give you children but I can be a husband in every other way. But I need you to take it at your own pace. I have no idea what you're ready for and what you're not and I don't want to make things worse by doing something before you're ready," he said. "That doesn't mean I'm any less attracted to you, OK?"

She nodded. Then a terrifying thought occurred to her. "Remus, what if I'm pregnant?" And she began to cry again, deep, wracking sobs.

The thought had already occurred to him. He took her in his arms. "We'll deal with it if it happens," he said. "I'm your husband, that means you can tell all and sundry that there's no way it could be mine and the law _still_ has to recognise me as the father. Whatever happens, I'll support you. I'll raise it as my own if that's what you want, or I'll support you if you want an abortion."

She broke into a fresh round of tears. "Abortion's illegal." Which, of course, was not to say it wasn't done, either by illegal practitioners within the magical communities or by muggle practitioners, but it was, for the most part, an illegal practice.

"If you're talking about a pregnancy between two full-breed humans," he corrected her. "I looked it up when Tonks was pregnant. They'll let you have an abortion if that's what you want. They actually encourage it. So don't feel like you have to keep it or you have to get rid of it – if it _does_ happen." He kissed the top of her head. If things were fair, after everything Ginny had gone through, she wouldn't be forced to go through something else traumatic, but he knew enough by now to know things often weren't fair.

* * *

"How was it?" Lupin asked Ginny on her first day back at Hogwarts. Her being fit OK to return to school had occurred the day before the full moon, and neither she nor Lupin had wanted her to go back without him so she had been given the extra three days at Shell House. She had tried staying at The Burrow, but one night of her mother's fussing and she would have slept in her brother's backyard to get away from it.

"I could feel people staring at me. Now I know what it was like to be Harry."

"It's only a few more months, love. How did your spell hold up?"

Ginny giggled. "Gave Slughorn the fright of his life. I think he was jealous he hadn't thought of it." Lupin had placed a fidelity spell on her that prevented any man who wasn't her relative – so her husband, brothers and father – from making skin-to-skin contact with her without getting a nasty burn for his troubles.

He smiled at that. "Makes me feel better about doing it to you," he said. He didn't particularly _like_ putting a spell on his wife, but she was in no state to be exposed to male touch like that. As it was, he had to take things very slowly with her. At the moment she was sitting between his legs with his arms around her waist, over her shirt. He kissed the top of her head, inhaling her scent deeply. "Gin, I was thinking – next Hogsmead weekend we should go shopping for rings. I want to get your a proper one."

"Remus, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. I want you to have a proper ring, one that I bought you as your husband – not one that your ex bought you to have something to flash around. And it would be nice to go out in public with you. It's about time I faced up to Andromeda."

"Really?" She twisted around to face him, and he could see in her eyes how happy the thought made her.

"Yeah, really. You're my wife. I can't hide away forever."

"Oooh, thankyou!" she cried, flinging her arms around his neck. She kissed him on the mouth. It was a closed-mouth kiss, but it was the most affection she had offered him since she had been attacked.

* * *

"I think it's disgusting, the way they're all over each other. She's such a tramp."Sarah had been telling anyone who would listen

"I think it's lovely," Luna said dreamily. "Shows how much he loves her."

"He's old enough to be her father."

"I think someone's jealous," Ali piped up. There were a few murmurings of approval from the students at the Three Broomsticks. Sarah glowered.

* * *

"This place is supposed to be haunted," Ginny said. They were outside the Shrieking Shack, her sitting between his legs.

Lupin laughed at that. "It's not haunted, that was me," he said. "There's a tunnel that ends under the Whomping Willow. It was planted the year I started Hogwarts because of me. It was before Wolfsbane was invented so I had to be kept isolated."

"Is that where you got your scars from?" she asked. She could sense him nodding. "Was it painful?" she asked. "Before Wolfsbane was invented?"

"Hurt like hell," he admitted. "You've seen me after a full moon, and that's _with_ the Wolfsbane. It felt like I was being ripped apart. It's terrifying, not having control over your own body," he said, aware that Ginny actually had some idea of what it was like to have your body so brutally violated.

"I'm so sorry. No-one should have to go through that."

He kissed her head. "Thanks," he said shakily. He stroked her hair. "I love you, you know," he said huskily.

She twisted around and kissed him on the mouth, flicking her tongue between his lips. He kissed her back, manoeuvring himself around so he was on top of her and she was on her back. "Gin, love," he murmured between kisses. He brought his hands down and under her shirt. She flinched to feel his hands on her bare skin. "Sorry," he apologised.

"I want to," she said. "I want to be your wife, Remus."

He kissed her chastely on her forehead. "I know you do, love. I can wait. It's more important that you want it than I get my rocks off."

"You're so good to me," she said.

"I do my best," he said.

"Remus? Can you kiss me again? Just... keep your hands over my shirt," she suggested.

"It would be my pleasure," he said, and went to kiss her again.

* * *

Lupin recognised the tawny owl as Andromeda's and he groaned inwardly. He had known it would happen eventually, but he'd been hoping to put the day off. The owl dropped a piece of parchment in his lap. He took it and opened it.

_Professor Lupin_,

It ran. (So it's 'Professor Lupin' now, he thought. She had always called him Remus.)

_Word has reached me regarding your involvement with the Weasley Girl. _

(She's my freaking _wife_, Lupin thought irritably.)

_Needless to say, I'm incredibly disappointed in you. While you and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye on things, I had hoped you would demonstrate my respect towards the memory of your late wife. I will be arriving at Hogwarts on Saturday to discuss my grandson's upbringing._

_Andromeda Tonks_

He gritted his teeth, knowing full well that Andromeda really would arrive at Hogwarts, despite McGonagall's warnings for her not to do that. He knew he would have to go and see her, and that it was best to get it over with. He composed a reply.

_Andromeda,_

_I will come over on Saturday. Do not come to the school. Will leave my son with my wife_. (He couldn't resist adding.)

_Lupin_.

He sent it off, then started to wonder if maybe he had been unduly harsh with her. After all, she had lost both her husband and daughter in the war; Teddy was the only family she had left, perhaps he shouldn't be throwing it in her face that he had remarried.

"You're only standing up for yourself as a dad," Ginny said when he told her about it that evening. "Can she really take Teddy away from you?"

"Nope. The law is well and truly on my side. The only case she could make is if she can prove I'm a danger to him, which I'm not. I don't even have him with me during the full moon, which she knows perfectly well, she would take him those days. But I get why she's pissed off. He's her only family, she must miss him like crazy. I think _I'd_ go crazy if I couldn't have him with me. I just don't trust her with him, I don't trust that she won't snatch him the second she has him alone."

"What about supervised visits? Or even just giving her some photos," Ginny suggested. "If you can't bring yourself to give her unsupervised visits, that might be an acceptable compromise."

"When did you get so wise?" he asked her.

She smiled lovingly at him. "Must be this awesome man that I've been living with for the past few months..."

* * *

"You look well," Andromeda said with a sneer that made her look remarkably like Bellatrix. "Being married to a teenager suit you, does it?"

"Zip it, Andromeda," Lupin said testily. "I'm not in the mood. I only came so you wouldn't come to the school and frightened the students."

"I'm surprised they let you keep teaching, after you seduced a student," she retorted. "Where's Teddy? That girl is not old enough to look after him."

"_That girl_ is my _wife_," Lupin said. "And quite frankly, I don't trust you not to snatch him if I leave you alone with him. Look, I brought you some photos," he said, removing them from his bag. The moving images of Teddy immediately grabbed Andromeda's attention. It had been several months since she had last seen him, and at that age, even a week made a difference to his size.

"Thankyou," she said frostily.

"It was Ginny's idea."

"Why did you do it?" Andromeda asked. "She's young enough to be your _daughter_."

"I am aware of that. I didn't have a lot of choice. Molly made it pretty clear what the consequences would be if I didn't do it."

"I don't exactly blame her for being pissed," Andromeda said. "What I don't understand is how you allowed yourself to be caught in that position in the first place."

Though he hadn't intended on telling her anything, Lupin found himself explaining what had happened. "I was guilty of not using my common sense, but that's all," he concluded. "I knew I couldn't live with myself if I exposed her to the attitudes that would come if I _didn't_ marry her. Merlin, I was such a lousy husband to her. I wanted to be dead – or failing that, I wanted to be left alone to enjoy my tragic widowhood. I made it pretty clear that I didn't consider Ginny to be a real wife."

Andromeda looked puzzled. "But if you never slept with her – "

"I'm well aware of the Dark Laws," Lupin said. "I slept with her on our wedding night. It was revolting. I got through it with a lust potion and thinking about Tonks. I really hurt her – and humiliated her." He shuddered with disgust at the memory. "I haven't been with her since."

Despite her own disgust with the way he had remarried so soon after Tonks's death, Andromeda felt a fission of sympathy for him. And it actually sounded like the kind of thing Lupin would do, he'd always been deeply compassionate and going after a student to comfort them was exactly the kind of thing he would do. "I'm sorry about what happened to Ginny," she said.

"I told her to spend the night in her dorm," he admitted guiltily. "We wanted each other and I didn't have any contraception on me so I told her to spend the night there. If I'd been able to control myself she would have been safe in my rooms when that bastard was raping her."

"You can't seriously blame yourself for what he did to her!" Andromeda said. Lupin shrugged; he knew intellectually that he wasn't to blame, but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty as sin. "You weren't to know what he was going to do! Merlin's beard, Remus, I may not have approved of you marrying my daughter but I never doubted your integrity."

"I know that," Lupin said hoarsely. "But you don't know what it's like. At first she couldn't stand me touching her. Even now she won't let it go further than a kiss. I don't mind waiting for her, but it kills me to see her so frightened."

"You really love her?" Andromeda asked.

Lupin nodded. "Yeah, I do. More than I thought possible. I never intended to fall in love again but I found myself sharing my rooms with this sweet, loyal, intelligent young woman. She's been through so much – we all have – and I just kind of got used to having her around... and _liked_ having her around."

"I had no idea," Andromeda said. "I thought you were being disrespectful to her memory."

"We all lost people we cared about," Lupin said. "I've become an unofficial counsellor to my students. So many of them need someone to talk to. I don't think anyone should be begrudged for finding happiness wherever they can."

Andromeda nodded. "I think I understand," she said slowly. Her own grief was still so raw that she couldn't imagine ever wanting to be with another man... but she could understand that a person might fall in love again, especially in the situation Lupin was describing.

"So no threatening to take Teddy from me? Ginny's really good with him. I can let you have supervised visits if you'd like, with her or Harry."

Andromeda nodded. It was better than nothing.

* * *

"He's so adorable," Luna said to Ginny, admiring Teddy. "Can I hold him?"

"Sorry – Remus is really fussy about who holds him. He's so overprotective."

"I've noticed," Luna said dryly. Lupin was pretty protective of Ginny, too. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No idea. But I figure the longer he's away, the better – means Andromeda hasn't kicked him out yet. That, or he's at the Hogs Head getting drunk."

"He do that often?"

"No. He doesn't get out much. Teddy's his priority. I hope he makes nice with Andromeda so we can do something that _doesn't_ involve Teddy. I love him to pieces, but sometimes I just want... adult time. Not in _that_ way," she added, realising how it sounded."We don't – I can't – " she struggled to find the words to express herself.

Luna nodded understandingly. "But you spend the nights with him?" she asked. Ginny nodded. "Well, that can only be a good thing, right?" she asked.

Ginny felt her eyes tearing up. "I like it when he just kisses me," she said. "But when he tries to take things further I freeze up. I keep thinking – what if I'm pregnant?"

"Have you spoken to Professor Lupin about it?" Luna found it easier to refer to Lupin as Professor Lupin at all times, so she wouldn't slip up and called him Remus out of habit.

"He says he'll support me if it happens – accept it as his own or take me to have an abortion – the kicker is it would be legally recognised as his and half-breeds are exempt from the abortion laws – but the idea of _his_ baby inside me makes me _sick_." She shuddered at the thought.

"I'm sure it will be OK. You're stronger than you think. We all are," Luna said with the insight that she often came up with. But Ginny found it hard to be reassured.

* * *

She was sitting in the Great Hall for dinner when Lupin returned. Sneaking up on her using his animal grace, he kneeled behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and nuzzling her neck in front of everyone. To hell with the rule about no public displays of affection; talking to Andromeda had made him realise how much Ginny meant to him. "How'd you get by with Teddy?" he asked her huskily.

She was blushing, but it was a good kind of blushing at having him so close to her. And she suddenly realised that she was totally comfortable with having him behind her. "Good," she said. "He's adorable. Luna was totally jealous."

"You didn't let her hold him, did you?" he asked.

"No. She wasn't the least bit taken aback. Wasn't surprised that you're overprotective."

He snorted with laughter at that. "Sorry for wanting only the best for my boy... and my girl." She leaned back against him. He cupped her jaw and rotated her head so he could kiss her. "I love you," he whispered in her ear as the Hall erupted into applause and wolf-whistles (with the occasional surly look from people like Sarah Callahan). "Don't ever forget that."


	13. Chapter 13

Lupin was in the middle of a class when Ginny came rushing in, her long hair flying, whipping around her face in a way that made him want to take her in his arms and run his fingers through it. "Gin, take it easy," he said warningly. She looked flushed and over-exerted. "You know what they said at St. Mungos." They had told her to take it easy, which no doubt meant _not_ running down the five flights of stairs that separated the Gryffindor common room from the basement that he taught in.

"I need to talk to you," she said breathlessly.

"I can see that," he said calmly, sounding a lot calmer than he felt to hear the breathlessness in her voice. "Go to our rooms and _lie down_. I'll be with you when my class is finished."

Rather than obey him, she started towards him. She got three steps before her knees buckled and she started to collapse. He performed a minor levitation spell on her to keen her upright for the time it took him to cross the room and take her in his arms. "Alright, class dismissed," he said over his shoulder. "I said _class dismissed_," he repeated irritably, knowing that the entire class were watching and waiting to see what happened next.

The class departed slowly. Only Dennis Creavey stayed behind. "Sir? Do you need a hand?" he offered shyly, and Lupin realised that he couldn't get both Ginny and Teddy back to their rooms without leaving one of them alone – which he didn't particularly like the idea of.

"Um, yeah, take Teddy," he said. He watched anxiously as Dennis pushed the stroller towards the door.

"I can push a stroller, Professor," Dennis said with a smile.

Lupin looked suitably guilty. "Sorry," he said. "I'm notoriously over-protective."

"I sort of gathered that from the fact you put a fidelity spell on your wife," Dennis said. "Sorry, that was rather personal," he apologised, regretting his impudence immediately.

"It's fine. She asked me to do it. It's not something I would have done of my own accord."

"Really? Don't you, like, have rights or something?"

"Nothing that I'd use for my own gain," he said a little crossly.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to insult you."

"It's fine. I just get a little tetchy when it comes to Ginny and Teddy." They reached his rooms and Lupin invited Dennis in.

"Wow, this place is huge," Dennis said.

"It's the biggest set of rooms in the castle after McGonagall's. It actually started out being two rooms, a kitchen and bathroom, but when Lockhart was in he had in expanded – more space for all his vanity crap, I suspect – and then I had it expanded again because it was never meant for a family. So now it's four rooms, bathroom and kitchen. Here, just let me put Ginny to bed and I'll be with you. There's butterbeer in the fridge, just help yourself." He didn't particularly _like_ having students in his rooms – he tolerated Luna, Ali and Ginny's other friends because they were there for _her_, but he didn't like having students here in other circumstances. But Dennis had helped him out and he felt he couldn't exactly throw him out.

He put Ginny to bed, checking her breathing and pulse before he left her. She was fine, had merely exhausted herself. He made his way back to the kitchen. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, what's with all the meat in the fridge?" Dennis asked.

"I can't for the life of me make the house elves understand how raw I like it. They keep overcooking it so I find it's easier just to do it myself," Lupin explained before he'd thought about it. "Sorry, that must sound really gross to you."He summoned the butterbeer to him and opened it.

"I can't say I ever thought about it," Dennis admitted. "Is that why you never eat with everyone else?" Lupin nodded. "Well, that makes sense, I suppose," Dennis mused. "Can't say I ever thought about it."

"Beats nosy parkers crapping on about how I should be locked up and absolutely not allowed to interact with humans," Lupin said. "Umbridge was particularly bad about it. For someone who thought it was disgusting, she seemed to think a hell of a lot out my sex life."

"You really didn't like her, did you?" Dennis. "I can't say I blame you."

"It wasn't even the werewolf thing, although she could be particularly vicious about it. It was the way she was determined to stick her head in the sand – so much bloodshed could have been spared if she hadn't clung to this idea that everything was hunky-dory. People like her did as much damage as Voldermort and his supporters." Dennis flinched. "Sorry, I forgot your brother died."

"He shouldn't have been there," Dennis said.

Lupin smiled ruefully. "A lot of people shouldn't have been there – including my wife. Both of them, actually. And it seems like a lot of the people who shouldn't have been there were killed without managing to inflict any damage."

"You're bitter," Dennis said with an insightfulness rare of a fifteen-year-old.

"You would be too, if your son didn't have a mother because she defied your express instructions and put herself in the path of an aunt who was gunning for her. But then, I suppose it's not like I didn't know how determined she is. And Ginny's a good step-mum."

"If it's worth anything now, I'm sorry for what happened to her. Adams was a jerk who belonged in Slytherin," Dennis declared.

Lupin laughed ruefully. "Think you're insulting the Slytherins there. Actually, I take that back. The only Blacks I ever liked were the ones who _weren't_ in Slytherin. You're right, he belonged in Slytherin."

"Do you know what Ginny wanted to tell you that she raced down here?" Dennis asked.

"Probably to tell me that she _isn't_ pregnant. I assume she wouldn't have looked so happy if she _was_."

Dennis's eyes went wide with surprise at one more thing that hadn't occurred to him. "Sorry, I never thought – wow, that must've been a really difficult thing to deal with."

"We would have dealt, I'm just glad we didn't have to."

"Remus?" came a sleepy voice from Ginny's room.

Lupin gave Dennis an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, do you mind – "

"Of course not," Dennis said, vacating his chair immediately and heading for the door. "I'm glad we got to talk," he said shyly, reminding Lupin that he'd somehow managed to take on the role of counsellor as well as DADA professor. But no other professor had lost someone as close as a wife and he felt he couldn't turn down any request for council.

"Whenever you want – just not in my rooms. I have an office for that," he said. Actually, he thought wryly, he had far more room than he actually needed, with a study here and an office attached to the classrooms. It was _one_ benefit to their decreased numbers following the war; there was certainly so shortage of space. Dennis nodded and left the rooms and Lupin went into Ginny's bedroom. "You going to listen to me next time I tell you to not to overdo yourself?" he asked as gently as he could manage.

She nodded. "Remus, I need to tell you something," she said.

"Love, if it's about not being pregnant, I figured that out by the way you ran down five flights of stairs. And I'm glad. Now I want you to rest."

"But I want to talk to you – "

"I'll be around to talk later. Right now I want you to rest. Please? You frightened me when you fainted." She saw the concern in his eyes and nodded. "Good girl," he said absently. "I'll bring you dinner later." Obediently she lay back down and didn't say anything more. "I'll fix you a sedative," he offered. She nodded, knowing that she was too keyed up to sleep but needed it, and he fixed her a mild sleeping drought that would knock her out for a couple of hours.

He went down to the Great Hall where everyone was having lunch. Students rushed up to him to congratulate him, something that he found embarrassing. It wasn't like Ginny was pregnant to _him_; she was simply not pregnant to another man.

So he found himself hiding with Teddy in the teacher's lounge when Professor Sprout found him. "I heard," she said dryly. "What actually happened, if you don't mind me asking?" Lupin explained briefly. "Good," Sprout said. "It would have been awful to deal with."

"We would have dealt with it," Lupin said testily. "Together."

"I never doubted that," Sprout said in a hurt voice. "I'm her Head of House. I do actually see the way you and her are together. It wouldn't have been an easy thing to deal with, but neither was her attack in the first place, and you dealt with that – _together_."

"Sorry. I just heard some of what people said after I brought her back, and I assume only a fraction of it trickled back to me."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I ever let that sorry son-of-a-bitch in my House," Sprout said with surprising vehemence.

"I think it's more Gryffindor's House than yours," Lupin said with a dry smile. "But I appreciate it nonetheless. Actually, I appreciate everyone's support. Well, your guys', anyway. I'm not sure I like the influence the Slytherins have on the Ravenclaws."

Sprout nodded. "Flitwick tries, but there are some real mean ones in that bunch, even _after_ a lot of their parents sent them to Durmstrang. Least we won't be seeing any of the Malfoys for a while. And I believe the next Black to come to Hogwarts will be Teddy." Sprout's watched squawked that it was dinnertime. "Good, I'm hungry," she said.

"I think I'll just get the elves to fix me something for Ginny," Lupin said. "I told her I'd bring her dinner after she rested."

"She told her to rest and she did it?" Sprout asked incredulously. "How _do_ you manage to control that girl? Sorry," she added, realising as an afterthought that Lupin probably didn't like his wife being referred to as a 'girl'.

But Lupin grinned. "Look up the conjuical rights laws. I can stop her from playing Quidditch if I want."

Sprout laughed at that. While she had no doubt Lupin would ever go through on his threat, it was a convincing enough one that he could get her to cave on any reasonable request without making the stubborn defiance that was as much a Weasley trademark as their red hair flare up. "You're good for each other," she said.

* * *

"Oh, yum, I'm _starving_," Ginny said shortly after when Lupin brought her dinner in bed. She sat up. "Is this what I can look forward to?" she asked.

He laughed. "I doubt McGonagall will let you keep getting away with it," he said. "Hell, she expects _me_ to make an appearance at dinner and she knows I have a valid reason for not eating with everyone else."

"Will you eat with me?" she asked.

"If you want." She already knew how badly scarred his body was, she wasn't about to be grossed out by how rare he liked his meat. So they ate dinner together and when the dishes had been taken care of by magic, they sat up in bed together, her lying in his arms. "When did your period start?" he asked.

"About ten minutes before I ran into your classroom," she said. "I'm sorry about that. I was just so happy."

"It's perfectly understandable, love."

"Remus? If – if I tell you something, do you promise not to be mad at me?" Ginny asked tentatively.

He kissed her forehead gently. "There's nothing you could say that could make me mad at you," he reassured her. "Besides, I think I know what it is." There was a lengthy pause that he took at Ginny's permission to continue. "You're relieved that you're not pregnant, but there was part of you that wanted a baby so much that you didn't care how, or by who. It's alright, love. I understand."

She buried her face in his chest, relieved that he understood but feeling ashamed nonetheless. "I've got no right to feel like that. I knew what I was getting into."

"What you knew in your head and what you have to come to accept are two different things," he said patiently. "I was first bitten when I was a kid. I'd never thought about having kids before and all of a sudden it was off the table and it was all I could think about. In some ways, it was a good thing that I was so young because by the time I was old enough to start having sex, I'd come to terms with it. I shudder to think what I might have done in defiant fury had I been old enough to get someone pregnant." He kissed her again and his arms tightened around her and she knew he was thinking about the risks he had posed to others – even though they often seemed magnified in his head. "It's not fair that you had to make a choice like that."

"But I made it, and I wouldn't take it back. We can adopt. There's more war orphans than the Ministry knows what to do with."

"No, we can't. I already looked into it. They won't let me. The only child anyone is going to let me take care of is my own biological one." He felt her deflate in his arms. "Listen, love, there's an option that we haven't talked about."

"What tells me I'm not going to like it?" she asked, feeling the tenseness in his body. "Remus, spit it out," she ordered him.

"I could look the other way while you had an affair," he said quietly. "The law will recognise any children you have as mine. _I'd_ accept them as mine."

"No." Her heart wrenched at the reality of what he was saying; that he wanted her to go to bed with another man. The thought of another man touching her the way Lupin did made her want to throw up, and it had little to do with her attack. She had never expected her relationship with Lupin to turn out this way, but now that it had, she couldn't imagine having anyone but him in her life. But did _she_ mean so little to _him_ that he would see her with another man?

"You won't have children any other way," he reminded her.

"Then I won't have children. Do you really think you could handle it? Bill said the way you could smell him on me after – after – do you really think you could deal with it? Do you really think you could look at me the same way?"

"Yes," he insisted.

"Cut the crap, Remus. I won't do it."

"Well, I won't expose you to my genes."

"I'd rather be exposed to your genes than cheat on you."

"I'd rather you cheat on me than be exposed to my genes."

"You did it with Tonks." "That was different," Lupin said. They both knew it was because he had honestly believed at the time that he couldn't father children and would have taken precautions had he known otherwise, but somehow, when he said it like that, it sounded like 'she was my first wife, she got better'. "I didn't mean it like that," he said, knowing exactly how his words sounded as soon as he had said them. Ginny leapt out of his arms. "Where are you going?" he asked.

"The Gryffindor tower. Clearly I'm not much of a wife to you so I may as well go back to being a student."

He grabbed her arm. "Gin, don't be like this."

"Don't be upset that you want me to be with someone else?" she raged at him.

"That's not what I said!"

He tightened his grip on her arm and she wrenched it off. "Don't... touch...me," she said, her quiet voice far scarier than when she had yelled at him.

"Don't you walk away from me," he replied, his voice just as cool. "I'm your husband."

Furious that he was pulling that card, she slapped him hard across the face. "Don't you _dare_ try that one on ," she hissed at him. "You're so full of it, you know that? You think you're so fucking noble, but you're just a goddamn coward!"

"Gin – "

"I said _don't touch me!_" she screamed at him when he tried to take her in his arms. "Don't – fucking – touch me!" She slapped him again and fled the room, leaving him stunned that things had backfired so spectacularly. After all, he was only trying to give her the options she deserved.

* * *

"Where did you sleep last night?"

"What if I told you I was with another man?" she jeered. "You know, just like you wanted."

"You know damn well that it's not what I wanted," he said through gritted teeth. At least he could smell that she hadn't been with anyone else. He was surprised at how much the idea bothered him. He had known it would be difficult to handle, but he had managed it with Jeff, and had thought he could manage it with someone else. But suddenly the thought of her with anyone else made him sick to his stomach.

"Could have fooled me," she spat. "I slept in the common room. I'm going to ask Sprout if she can delegate me a bed."

"Your place is with me," he said, cooler than he had intended, but she was being so bloody stubborn and proud about it. Alright, so maybe it hadn't been his finest moment, and he had sadly underestimated how offended she would be, but he had only been trying to give her an option. "I expect you back in our rooms after class."

"I'm not a dog you can bark orders at," Ginny said coolly. She started to walk away from him.

He grabbed her arm as she left, infuriated by her stubborn independent streak. "I'm warning you, Ginny," he said threateningly.

She glared at him hatefully. "_You're_ the one who's always banging on about my right to choose," she spat. "Now get your hands off me before I scream."

"I have rights."

"You forfeited them when you told me to sleep with another man."

"I'm sorry. I thought maybe it was what you wanted."

"What I _wanted_? Jesus, Remus, don't you know me at _all_? I only wanted _you_. And I thought – I thought – Jesus, how little do I mean to you that you'd see me with someone else? Is _that_ why you could get over the Jeff thing? Because it really didn't matter if I was with someone else?"

"Gin, that's not true," Lupin said, mentally kicking himself for not having looked at it from that point of view. "I love you."

"Like hell you do. I haven't forgotten that you never wanted to marry me," she said bitterly.

"I never meant to make you feel... unwanted," he said, trying to soften his voice and not be so demanding – even though he had every right, at least legally, to be demanding. "Please, Gin, come back."

But she couldn't put any stock in what he was saying when he had already made it clear that he didn't care if she was with another man – at least, that was how she had twisted it in her mind. "Don't touch me," she said again, wrenching her arm out of his hold and storming away from him.

"I have rights!" he screamed at her retreating back, loud enough to attract the attention of several passers-by. "You'd better be in our rooms after class, or I'm coming to get you!"

* * *

"I can't stop you from taking her if you insist, but I strongly suggest that you do no such thing," Sprout said to Lupin later that day. After their very public spat, she had, of course, heard about their heated exchange. "You're going to do no-one any favours, least of all yourselves. Let her come back of her own accord. What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

"I do, actually," he said shortly. "She's my _wife_. I have a right to have her with me."

"And she's not going to be any sort of wife to you if you drag her off. Look," she said, "the full moon's coming up. Why don't you let it go until after that? Whatever's happened between you to get her so riled up, some time apart will do some good."


	14. Chapter 14

"Ow! That _hurts_. Ginny does it much better."

"This would be the Ginny who's refusing to come down from the Gryffindor Tower?" Madam Pomfrey asked drily, pushing his dislocated shoulder back into place. "I think you'll find not even the conjuical rights laws cover nursing you. Look, you obviously miss her. You tried talking to her?"

"Yes."

"Yelling at her is not talking to her, Remus, which you damn well know," Pomfrey said. "Actual talking to her requires not pulling your I'm-your-husband-I-have-rights rubbish."

"It's not rubbish. I _am_ her husband and I _do_ have rights. She's being a child."

"And _you're_ being possessive," Pomfrey countered. "You're never going to get her to come back of your own free will. And while hauling her back down to your rooms and tying her to the bed is within your rights, you're not going to get much of a wife out of it."

"I know that – ow, just stop it will you!" he yelled when Pomfrey attempted to ease the ache in his neck and back. "I'd rather be in pain then endure your incompetent healing," he grumbled. Pomfrey smiled despite Lupin's insults. If nothing else, he had become used to Ginny's caring, healing touch over the months, and with any luck, the pain he was in without her would eventually send him back into her arms.

* * *

"Remus, you look like a sullen teenager," McGonagall said, a slight smile playing on her lips. Lupin had become surlier and surlier as the days went by and Ginny rejected his attempts to make nice with her. In all fairness, he lost his temper just as quickly as she did, and within minutes their interactions were reduced to his threats of forcing her back to their rooms. For a short while, they had been very happy together and very good for each other, and then something had happened and he was going the wrong way about getting it back. He watched her jealously from the teacher's table in the Great Hall. It was dinnertime, and she was with her fellow Gryffindor students when, in his opinion, she should be by his side.

She watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was glowering at her. And just because she had turned down all his insistences that she return to their rooms – _their_ rooms? Ha, _his_ rooms – like a proper wife, like she was his property or something. Hadn't _he_ told her on their wedding night that she was never to feel like he had any rights over her? And now that he wanted something rather than ask for it and treat her respectfully, he was calling on the same conjuical rights laws that he had always expressed his disgust over. Well, screw him. She wasn't about to live with a man who would see her with another man. She would rather very publicly be separated from him, to hell with what people were saying about them.

And she knew people were talking about them. Or, rather, they were talking about _her_. Apparently he had every right to stomp around the castle, scowling and threatening to drag her by her hair back to his bed where she belonged – that had happened after an entire bottle of firewhisky, and McGonagall had had a seriously talking to him over it, and thankfully he hadn't repeated his performance – but of course that had just set tongues wagging about how much he loved her that he would do such a thing and what a bitch she was for wanting nothing to do with him.

_She_ was a bitch? _He_ was the one who hadn't cared if she was with another man. She longed to tell everyone that, but something told her that it would backfire, and besides, she didn't care to tell all and sundry the nature of her marriage. But everyone was calling her a heartless bitch and making out like he was the abandoned husband – OK, so maybe she _had_ walked out on him, but it wasn't like he hadn't had it coming. And everytime he tried to talk to her, he ended up trying to exert his rights as her husband, and she always responded with a withering look. She wasn't some piece of property that he could claim after he had made it clear that he didn't actually care about her as a wife.

He was scowling at her because she was talking to Dennis Creavey, she knew. _Fucking hypocrite_, she thought. She tried not to think about the way he played with her hair when she was lying in his arms. It was only because he was so tactile, she told herself, and not because he wanted her for herself. He would have acted the same with a prostitute, she was sure. So there was no point in thinking about the way his facial hair brushed against her bare skin when he kissed her – and not just on her face – and how much strength there was in that thin body and how he could be sexy and paternalistic and gentle and demanding and giving all at the same time...

She smiled winningly at Dennis. He was a prefect now, so she spent a fair bit of time with him. He was two years younger than her, but she enjoyed his company, and he was handily close. She felt a little bad about using him, but it wasn't like she was _really_ using him...

... Lupin watched her intently, and when she put her hand on Creavey's knee, it was more than he could handle. _Fucking hypocrite_, he thought, his heart bitter with jealousy. She had made such a big deal when he had suggested she have an affair, but look at what she was doing! He couldn't stand seeing her touch another man. Part of him had been secretly pleased when she had asked him to help her discourage men from touching her. Her brothers and father he could deal with, they were family, but there werewolf in him was highly territorial and he _liked_ having Ginny all to himself, as much as he felt like a hypocritical chauvinist for thinking that. He himself had insisted that she needed to wean herself off the security that the fidelity charm gave her, but there had still been part of him that had liked having no other man able to touch her.

Seeing her touch Dennis Creavey of her own free will was more than he could stand, especially after she had told him what he could do with all his requests for her to return to their rooms. (OK, they hadn't been requests, exactly, but, _Goddamnit_, he had a _right_ to have her there.) He thought about the way her long hair would brush against his bare skin and thought about her doing that with Creavey and felt sick with jealousy. Well, he wouldn't stand for it. He discreetly flicked his wand under his desk – it was too complex an enchantment for him to do it wandless – and silently recited the incantation to reinstate the fidelity charm...

Dennis screamed in agony as the charm instantly took effect. "REMUS LUPIN!" McGonagall shrieked, realising immediately what Lupin had done. He didn't care. He bounded away from the head table and across to the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff table, snatching Ginny around the waist possessively and backing away with her.

"Hey!" she shrieked at him. "Put me down!"

"I've tolerated this long enough," he snarled in her ear. "You are my _wife_ and you _will_ share my bed like you're goddamn supposed to."

"Fuck you!" she screamed, her voice ringing through the hall.

"That," he said, the vulgarity in his voice obvious. "Is the goddamn _idea_." His superior strength holding her easily with one arm around her waist, he clamped his free hand over her mouth. "No-one try and stop me," he said, his voice ringing clearly through the hall. "She is my wife and I have my rights."

Sprout and Pomfrey both looked ready to duel him over his 'right', but decided against it when the saw the grim look in his eyes. "Minerva!" Pomfrey said when Lupin had hauled a kicking Ginny out of the Great Hall and towards the basement one level below. "You can't seriously let him do this?"

"Unless you've failed to listen to him banging on the last few weeks, he has certain – er – rights as her husband. Don't worry, he won't hurt her," McGonagall said, not entirely believing that either of them would escape scot-free from the other's anger, but genuinely believing that he wouldn't seriously hurt her... or at least nothing that Pomfrey couldn't deal with once his anger dissipated. "Let it play out, at least for the time being. Between both their tempers and his possessiveness, they desperately need to hash it out in private."

* * *

"You bastard!" Ginny yelled at Lupin when he dumped her, kicking and screaming, onto his bed. She landed awkwardly on her back and struggled to sit up. He straddled her and pushed his hand down on her chest, forcing her back down.

"Lie _down_," he growled. "I can't use magic on you but I can bind and gag you if I want."

She spat in his face. "Bastard!" she yelled again. "You're just as bad as him if you do this!"

He responded by slapping her hard enough to send her head snapping against the pillow. "I – am – not – Jeff – Adams! I – am – your – _husband!_ And I will not tolerate you touching another man!"

"You were happy to tolerate it a few weeks ago! And I'd rather be with another man than you!" she flung in his face cruelly.

He slapped her again, this time harder, if it were possible. "You say that again and I'll break your neck," he snarled. "You're mine – _mine_ – and I won't stand for anyone else laying a finger on you," he panted from the effort of holding her down. He kissed her savagely, cupping her chin and digging his thumb and index fingers into the joints of her jaw, forcing her to open her mouth and let his tongue in. Using his weight against her, he pushed her down into the mattress. _You bite me and I'll whip you_, he projected his thoughts onto her using Legilimency.

He let go of her hands and she raked her fingernails down her shirt, tearing the material. She wrenched her head to one side so he couldn't kiss her. He responded by grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking on it to force it into the position he wanted. _Kiss me back_, he ordered her mentally.

_No_. She hadn't meant to reply to him mentally, hadn't meant to acknowledge his talent as a Legilimens by acknowledging anything he said using it, but it had slipped out.

_Kiss... me... back_, he ordered more forcefully. He was doing something to her, touching her in a way that made it impossible for her to deny him and without realising it, her tongue was in his mouth and her legs were only half-kicking out against his and her fists weren't beating against his back as fiercely as she intended to.

_Stop it_, she ordered him.

_No. You're mine_. He abandoned her mouth to kiss her face and neck, his tongue and lips working frantically, trying to consume all the skin he'd missed in these past few months that they'd spent wasting their opportunities. His fingers were on the buttons of her House robes and he'd managed to push his body against hers in such a way that he could get his hands in between them to undo the buttons but she couldn't do the same thing to stop him. He skimmed his teeth over her collarbone and she gasped despite herself.

"Remus, _no_," she protested.

"Yes."

"No."

"I'm your husband."

The three words reminded her how he had humiliated her by suggesting she have an affair in order to conceive. Having his rights as a husband and _being _ her husband were two entirely different things, as far as she was concerned. Tears pricking her eyes, she decided the best thing to do was let Lupin have his way with her if that's what he wanted. He was a man with a man's needs – more than a man's needs, really, since his sex drive was part-animal – in an environment that allowed him little interact with women his own age but a wife who had certain duties to fulfil. He had married her because he'd had to but he didn't want a wife, he wanted a whore.

"Damn you," he hissed when she went limp in his arms, resigning herself to her duties, not believing how he felt about her, thinking he just wanted a warm body and not a wife in every sense of the word. Fine, she wanted to be treated like a whore...

Grunting, he grabbed the front of her robes that he hadn't yet unbuttoned and yanked down roughly, tearing them down the middle. She was wearing a t-shirt underneath, and he pushed it up under her arms and flicked open her bra clasped so it snapped loose, exposing her bare breasts. He fastened his mouth over one nipple, licking it, sucking on it hard, unapologetically, using his hand to knead on her other breast. Despite her intentions to remain passive, she arched her back and moaned. Her obvious desire, despite her intentions, egged him on and he felt a throbbing in his pants. "Ginny," he moaned, the sounds muffled by his full mouth and yet unmistakeable. "Merlin, my love..." He took her hands and moved them to his back, under his shirt, while he quickly undid the buttons. "Touch me the way you do," he directed her. He'd missed the feel of her small but strong hands on his scarred skin, the way they smoothed over his body without caring how battered his body was. "Ah, yes, like that. Gin, I've missed you," he said huskily. He paused, giving her the opportunity to tell him that she'd missed him, too. When she didn't, he kissed her savagely, forcing her to kiss him back by sheer force of lust. He tore through her shirt and eased off her bra so they were both topless, their naked bodies entwined. He kissed, licked, stroked, scratched and bit her with animal lust, and despite herself, she returned the favour.

They divested each other of the last of their clothes and he fingered her very briefly, to assure himself of her readiness rather than out of any need to ready her, then straddling her, thrust himself deep inside her. "Oh – sweet – Merlin – _Ginny!_" he gasped at the feel of her wet, tight womanhood surrounding him. He squeezed her thigh roughly, indicating that he wanted her to wrap her legs around his waist. "_Tighter!_" he barked at her. "Gin – you're not – going – to hurt – me – want to – feel you," he grunted in time to his deep thrusts, fast but rhythmic. He wrapped one arm around her back, drawing her tightly against him until she understood how close he wanted to be to her. "That's a girl," he murmured approvingly, and for once, she wasn't annoyed when he called her 'girl'. He brought his hand down between her legs, stroking her in time to his trusts, his body gliding easily over hers from the sweat their bodies. He felt his climax build up and finished Ginny off because something told him that he was going to lose control.

_Don't let go_, he told her mentally.

_I won't_. There was an uncontrollably lust there which frightened her a little because of the force of it but exhilarated her for the same reason. The way he cried her name, the way he kissed her and dug his fingers and teeth into her skin and wanted to feel her made her wonder that maybe it was _her_ that he wanted. "Ginny!" he screamed "Gin! Love, my love. Ah – ahhh..." He buried his face in her neck, thrust hard and spilled himself inside her. "Don't let go," he whispered hoarsely.

Nodding slightly, she kept her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms around her back. He was trembling in her arms and after a minute she realised that he was actually crying softly into her shoulder. "I've missed you so much," he mumbled into her shoulder. "I got so jealous when I saw you with Creavey. I was wrong – so wrong – to suggest what I did. I never want to see you with another man. I don't even want to think about it. Forgive me?"

"I'd've forgiven you if you'd just said that in the first place," she told him gently. Nodding against her shoulder, he remained in his position until he felt Ginny shift uncomfortably beneath him.

"Sorry," he said, pulling out of her and lying on his stomach next to her. "Shoulda used a condom," he mumbled. "Too late now." It was on the tip of Ginny's tongue to say it was a risk she was willing to take, but she thought it was best not to disturb the peace between them – if you called the violent, noisy sex they'd just had peaceful. So she kissed his shoulder instead.

He flinched and she remembered it was the shoulder he kept dislocating. "Pomfrey couldn't do it as good as you," he said defensively, which Ginny doubted somewhat. She was good with common Quidditch injuries, but she was hardly in the same league as a Healer-trained hospital matron. Which made her wonder if her touch had been as soothing to his abused body as her therapeutic abilities.

"Let's see what I can do," she said, swinging her body with the ability of a Quidditch player over his. She took advantage of the fact he wasn't entirely alert to properly realign the shoulder before he'd realised what she was doing. He yelped. "For someone who turns into a wolf three times a month, you carry on like a baby over a dislocated shoulder," she said in amusement.

"That was the best orgasm of my life," he complained. "My shoulder could wait."

"Really?" she asked, digging her fingers into his upper back between his shoulder blades.

"Really, what?"

"That was the best orgasm of your life?"

He chuckled, realising what she was up to. "Oh, I am so not answering that. I refuse to compare you to Tonks."

"Did she rub your back as well as I do?"

"Gin, I'm serious – ah, oh that feels good," he murmured. "I know this hasn't been easy on you and I know what it's like to feel insanely jealous. Trust me, it's for the best that you don't feel compared – ah, OK, no, she didn't rub my back as well," he said as her small, strong hands glided over his skin, more to create the sensation of touch that for any therapeutic reasons. He whimpered softly as she ran her hands the length of his back, dropping her head forward enough that her long hair brushed against his bare skin, then lowered her head further so she could kiss him. He sighed happily at the feel of her hands and mouth running along his back. She smoothed her hands along the curve of his ass and inner thighs, between his buttocks and underneath, fondling his balls awkwardly at first, but it didn't take her long to get the hang of it – and it didn't take much to turn Lupin on, it seemed. After a few minutes, he was squirming around on the bed, his penis hard under the gentle stroking of her fingers. Something had told her that he had an excellent recovery rate. Ginny squeezed his thigh in a motion to roll over. He rolled onto his back, his erection apparent. She went to straddle him.

"Gin, wait," Lupin cried in a ragged voice. He fumbled his dresser and withdrew a box of condoms. She made a face, hoping that she could make him forget for a second time, but no so luck. She didn't push him, instead, watching him do it. It was fascinating, really, how muggles got around things without magic – and even surpassing the effectiveness of the magical community when it came to things like contraception. She giggled to think that her dad might actually find this very interesting – if it wasn't for the present circumstances. "What?" he asked. She explained, and he made a face. "I'm old enough to be your father, Gin, I'd rather you not be thinking about your _actual_ father when you're in bed with me. Ah, Gin, that's not playing fair," he groaned when she ran her fingers the length of his erection. Temporarily at least, he'd forgotten about her comment. He grabbed her hips and hoisted her up so she could mount him.

"Remus, I don't know how – " she started. Not counting Jeff, it had only been him, and in their two prior experiences, he had been on top.

"I've got you," he said, his hold on her hips firm but gentle. "It's easy. The stuff you do on the Quidditch pitch is harder." And she found herself picking up the rhythm easily enough as she rode him to a second intense orgasm... ... "You're amazing," he whispered when he held her in her arms after it was over. "I never want to be separated from you again."

"No more wanting me to have an affair?" she asked.

"I wanted to kill Creavey," he admitted. "I know I'm being unreasonable but there's something in me that makes me so territorial. I've never felt this way about someone. I'm not asking you to stop being friends with men, but for the love of Merlin, please don't go out of your way to make me jealous."

"Really?" she asked. "You've never felt so territorial about someone? Not even Tonks?"

"I told you I wasn't going to answer that, love," Lupin said, which for Ginny was all the answer she needed. It had been wrong for Lupin to place the enchantment on her to hurt Dennis, but there was a part of her that liked the fact he struggled so much with his jealousy because of how he felt about her. It was a strange way of demonstrating your love for a person, but for Lupin...

"I won't give you any reason to be jealous anymore," she promised...

He stirred in the middle of the night. It was too hard to sleep with this gorgeous, naked woman in his bed and his sexual appetite, suppressed for months, barely whetted by their four rounds already. He stroked her long red hair. They'd spent a few nights together, most memorably the night they'd had the massive fight over him not treating her with respect and returning to their rooms to find her crying over Fred, but always just as companions, or worse, in a vaguely paternalistic/filial manner. They'd been married for several months, and this was their first real night together as husband and wife. He dropped his hand from the crown of her head down to her shoulder, trailing his fingers across her bare skin, down her arm and back to the curve of her bottom, similar to how she had done to him earlier. She stirred in her sleep and he moved his hand around between her legs.

"Remus, I need to sleep," she mumbled unconvincingly, at the same time spreading her legs to give him better access. He kissed her shoulder chastely in direct contrast to his fingers which were stroking between her spread legs. Spooning her, he rubbed his own naked body against hers, his penis quickly growing hard against her ass until she was moaning and gyrating against him. He easily pushed her onto her stomach and leaned between her spread legs. Reluctantly, he reached for a condom, knowing that if he hated the things on what was their first real night together as husband and wife, and put it on. He grabbed her hips and plunged inside her. She cried out in pleasure when he did so, and biting down on his lip, he began pumping her.

"Ginny," he cried out as he was doing it. "Oh, God, _Ginny..._"

* * *

He left her a note in the morning, along with a sleeping draught.

_Love,_

_You must be exhausted. I don't want you to overexert yourself. I want you to spend the day resting and we'll talk tonight – really talk._

_I love you,_

_Remus_.

... Yawning, Ginny tossed the note into the garbage and tipped the potion down the sink. If _he_ was going to carry on as usual despite being up most of the night, then so was she. She inspected her Gryffindor robes. The buttons had been ripped off down the middle and she lacked the seamstress spells that her mother knew to fix it. Thankgod he had insisted on buying her a second set of robes, overriding her protests that she couldn't afford them. _I'm your husband and it's unseemly for you not to be fitted out properly_. She showered quickly, convinced that despite that, she could still feel the smell and taste of him on her skin and lips, and changed into jeans and a t-shirt before throwing her robes over them. She rummaged through the fridge – he had taken to keeping fresh fruit in there, carefully separated from his meat, for her to snack on – and retrieved an apple. She was starving. She giggled, remembering just how much of a workout she had had last night. No wonder she was hungry. She wondered if she could get Lupin to agree to lunch with her. She desperately wanted time alone with him. 'Tonight' seemed so far away. Taking a bite out of her apple, she left the rooms, making sure the security spells were up.

* * *

"Where's Ginny?" Sarah Callahan asked snidely while Lupin was attempting to teach DADA. Lupin gritted his teeth. He knew damn well that Sarah didn't give two figs about Ginny's welfare and just wanted to disrupt the class. She had never forgiven him for his very public rejection of her, and had retaliated by interrupting the class whenever she could. The other students were used to it by now, and generally ignored her, but after everyone had seem him haul her, kicking and screaming, out of the Great Hall last night, they all wanted to know what had happened. And he supposed he really couldn't blame them. He had been grumbling for weeks that she was being a disobedient wife, staying in the Gryffindor tower despite his requests, and that he had ever right to insist that she stay with him. Even McGonagall had recognised that he had the legal, if not ethical, right to drag her away from her friends to exert his conjuical rights – although knowing McGonagall, she probably had some sort of end-game in mind – so there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to what his intentions had been last night when he had snatched Ginny from her dinner.

"She's asleep," Lupin said shortly. "She had a big night."

Predictably, there were a few derisive giggles when he said that.

"_You_ seem OK," Sarah said pointedly.

"_I_ have a much quicker recovery rate," Lupin retorted. He flexed his shoulders back. Every muscle in his back hurt from having Ginny's weight on top of it for most of the night. Even _he_ couldn't recover from that in a few hours. Which was why he wanted Ginny to rest for the day. He wanted to spend the night with her again – thankgod, it was Friday, and they had the whole weekend to themselves – and he wanted her to recover from last night's exertion for it.

"Is she _really_ just sleeping?" Ali asked suspiciously.

"I think what you meant to say is did I finally get fed up and wring her neck?" Lupin offered. There were several guilty looks around the class. "How many of you were at the Battle of Hogwarts?" he asked. "And don't lie about it at this late date. I know plenty of you snuck back in after your were evacuated." Several hands went up. "You may not have heard it with all the chaos that was going on, but there's an alarm that goes off whenever someone dies within the castle grounds. It drove me crazy, went deaf for three days. You'd all be well aware of it if I'd done anything more than smack her a few times."

"And did you?" Ali asked bluntly. "I mean, you looked pretty pissed last night."

"I overreacted," Lupin admitted. "Ginny should have known better than to try and make a werewolf jealous and I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I have no idea how I'm supposed to square things with Creavey. But I didn't hurt her." _Much_, he added silently. And after the first two times he'd hit her, she'd wanted it, so the way he'd bitten her and dug his fingers into her flesh didn't really count as 'hurting' her, did they?

The door opened, and Lupin knew instinctively that it was his wife even before he could smell her. "Sorry I'm late," Ginny said breezily, half-eaten apple in hand. Despite the fact she was stumble with exhaustion, she looked radiant. "Did I miss anything, Remus?" she asked cheekily.

"I told you to sleep. I left you a potion," Lupin said, clenching his fists against the edge of the desk. She was testing him, he knew, pushing the boundaries between husband and professor, and he knew he couldn't respond – at least not in public.

"You're out and about," she pointed out. She went to take her usual seat at the front. He cringed to see there were dark shadows under her eyes and bruises, scratches and bite marks over her face and neck. He wasn't sure if she had intentionally come to class looking like that or had been in such a rush to make a point and come to class despite his instructions that she hadn't taken a proper look at herself in the mirror.

"Ginny, come here," he ordered softly. There was a firm tone in his voice that she thought was best not to disobey and she went up to his desk where he was sitting, as usual, on the edge of it. He ran his face over her face and neck, mentally reciting the incantation for a simple healing spell that quickly returned her skin – at least, what skin that was visible – to its usual unblemished form. (Unblemished if you didn't count all those adorable freckles.) She closed her eyes in pleasure at his touch and unconsciously opened her mouth in a way that made him want to kiss her. "If you're determined to go to class today, I want you to go to Professor Slughorn and ask for a pepper-up potion." He reached for his pad and quill to write his colleague a brief explanation. "You're likely to fall asleep by your third class if you don't, and I want you awake and alert for tonight." He dropped his voice slightly on the word _tonight_ so he made it clear just what 'tonight' would entail. "Go," he directed her softly. "Wait a sec, Gin," he said, when she started to turn around to head to Slughorn's office. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her deeply, bringing his other hand to her hair and running his fingers through it. Ginny kissed him back just as deeply, flinging her arms around his neck. There was a scattering of applause and wolf-whistles in response to their kiss. "_Now_ you can go," he said huskily. The room was silent as his students watched him watch his wife exit the room. "Right, anyone need any more proof that she's alive and well?" he asked. There was no reply. "Good. Because anyone who wants to start nosying around my marriage will find themselves in detention, and since I've just reconciled with my wife and don't particularly want to take time out from her, you all can spend them watching us make out." There was dead silence at that threat. They were all very fond of Lupin as a teacher, but none of them wanted to watch him making out with one of their fellow students. "Good," he said. "Now, let's get back to the lesson..."

* * *

"You can't call me Remus in class," Lupin said firmly after they'd had dinner that evening. "I can be more public in my affection when we're not in class if that's what you'd like, but you _cannot call me Remus_. If it's the only four hours a week where we manage it, DADA has to be the space where you're nothing more than my student. And for the love of Merlin, check yourself in the mirror before you head out. If you hadn't been radiating like you had, people would've thought I'd attacked you."

"I was radiating?"

"Like nuclear fallout."

"Huh?"

"Never mind." For someone who was close friends with Hermione Granger, she didn't understand many muggle expressions. "Just an expression I picked up off Ted. Which reminds me, I have to talk to you about something later. But yes, you were radiating. You looked like – well, a newlywed," he said dryly. They had been married for several months now but last night had been their first night together as husband and wife; in a way, this was their honeymoon. Which made him think – there was just over a month left of school, maybe they could go to Europe for Christmas. "Gin, you can't try crap like you did last night. I'm a werewolf, I'm incredibly territorial. I'm not making excuses for what I did to Creavey, but you can't _do_ stuff like that. Any closer to the full moon and I would have seriously hurt him for touching my girl."

"_I_ touched _him_," Ginny pointed out. She giggled. "And besides, it only proved that you don't want me to be with anyone else."

"I'd been trying to tell you that for weeks," he said patiently.

"No, you'd been yelling at me and then threatening to force yourself on me," she corrected him.

"I would never have forced myself on you, love," he said. "Do you remember what I said on our wedding night? I never want you to feel like any man has a right to your body, not even me. I know I was rough with you last night and I don't blame you for thinking that I would have forced you if you hadn't wanted it. I can't explain it, but – "

"I understand," she said, and she did. She was beginning to understand that there could be quite a difference between being forceful and forcing someone. "I love you, Remus. I know I haven't been as mature as I could have been and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have tried to make you jealous. I just wanted to know that you didn't want me to be with anyone else." She thought about the way she had reacted to her touching Dennis Creavey last night. It had been wrong for him to re-establish the enchantment to hurt him for something she had done, but it showed that he couldn't stand the thought of her being with anyone else. She reached up to kiss him, flicking her tongue into his mouth and winding her arms up his chest, inside his shirt. She got to the top then withdrew her hands and started unbuttoning it, kissing the exposed skin as she went.

"Ginny," he grunted. He placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed down slightly. She got the message, kissing her way down his chest as she snaked her hand down her abdomen to his groin. His penis hardened immediately when her hand came to a stop over it. "Gin," he grunted, "you have far too smart a mouth not to use it for a decent blow job." He unzipped his pants and wriggled out of them, spreading his legs so Ginny was positioned between them, her long red hair fanned out across his thighs. She took him in her mouth, the feel of his semi-erect member hardening in her mouth in a new, but not entirely unpleasant, experience for her. Gamely, she swallowed him until he was all the way down her throat and began sucking him, mimicking the in-and-out motions he did when he was inside her. He moaned like an animal as she sucked him off, feeling a sexual thrill at how much she could turn him on, feeling him start to thrust his hips to drive himself deeper in her mouth as he barrelled towards an orgasm. "Ginny!" he screamed as he climaxed in her mouth and, in a rare moment of being a dutiful little wife, she swallowed. "That your first time?" he asked casually, unbuttoning her shirt with deceptive casualness. She nodded shyly, and bucked against him when he slid his hand inside her bra and fondled her nipple. "I'm going to have a lot of fun teaching you," he said.

He unhooked her bra and started returning the favour, kissing his way down her chest, her breasts, her stomach, her abdomen, unbuttoning her pants and pulling them down her legs along with her panties so she was completely naked. He stroked between her legs gently for a few seconds, enough to make her shiver with anticipation and spread her legs for him, before lowering his head to her and sucking at her with no small degree of talent. He ate her out for nearly half an hour as orgasm after orgasm washed over her. She was trembling uncontrollably by the time he was done. Dimly, she remembered how he had gone down on her on their wedding night, but somehow, that was nothing on tight... He crawled up the bed. "Ready?" he asked drily, kissing her deeply. Her eyes sparkled lovingly at him. He reached for a condom...

"Remus, what did you want to tell me before?" she asked him when they lay in bed together a while later, momentarily sated. He had the sexual appetite of an animal and something told her she would enjoy that very much. "About Ted?"

He had forgotten about it in the trashing around. "Not Ted per se, but Andromeda. I've agreed to get her have Teddy the next full moon, but she won't be able to get him until late in the afternoon – something to do with Narcissa. I've made arrangement with Bill to have her pick him up at Shell Cottage, but I didn't know what you wanted to do. I know you spent the last full moon in the tower so I guess it doesn't frighten you so much anymore, so it's up to you. I can get Bill to pick him up from here and you can stay in the tower, or you can take him to Shell Cottage and spend the full moon there."

Lupin had arranged for her to spend the full moons at Shell Cottage because he knew she had at the time been traumatised just _thinking_ about staying at Gryffindor House again. She knew she was over that fear – so long as she was in a general dorm and not her own single room where it had happened – but the idea of spending a few days with Bill and Fleur was too much to pass up, even if she was kind of exploiting a situation Lupin had created for her for a fear that no longer existed. "I'll take him to the Cottage," she said. "I thought you would say that." Of all her brothers, Ginny was easily closest to Bill – who was, Lupin had realised early into his marriage, the only one of her brothers who was closer in age to him than to Ginny (and even then, only by a year).

"You sure you're OK meeting with Andromeda?"

"She's hardly going to cut me off in my own brother's home," Ginny said.

"You underestimate her capacity to be nasty," Lupin drawled. "Or have you forgotten how her sister tried to kill you? Never underestimate a Black, love, even one who's on our side."

"I can handle it," Ginny said stubbornly.

Lupin laughed at that. "Never underestimate a Weasley, either."

* * *

"Ma-_ma_," Teddy said uncertainly, stumbling over the word – or, rather, the single sound, doubled up – but nonetheless addressing Ginny as his mother. He grabbed a fistful of her long hair and pulled at it. Ginny laughed. _Like father, like son_, she thought. Teddy loved her hair as much as Lupin did.

"Gin-_ny_," she corrected him, assuming the manner he had of stressing the second syllable. "Not mama." She pulled out a photo of Tonks, one of the many that she and Lupin had been using to attempt to correct Teddy. For the first time, she realised that the photo must have been taken sometime between Lupin agreeing to a relationship with her and him leaving her over her pregnancy, because they were together but she wasn't showing. For the first time, she felt the deepest amount of sympathy for the dead woman who would never know her son. But at least they could make sure that her son knew _her_."_This_ is mama. Mama. Tonks."

"Ma-_ma_. Ton. A-_na_!" he cried out pleasedly when Ginny rifled through the photos and came across a photo of Tonks and Andromeda.

"Is he trying to say Nanna or Andromeda?" Andromeda asked from the doorway. She was leaning against the doorframe, and for a split second it was Ginny's instinct to gather Teddy protectively in her arms at the sight of Bellatrix LeStrange.

"Sorry," she said guiltily when she realised her mistake – although the resemblance really was uncanny at first glance, though at a second, you could see that Andromeda's hair was dark brown, not pitch-black, and that her features, although highly similar, were somehow softer, in the way that the lights in the greenhouses at Hogwarts were supposed to mimic the sun but somehow the sun was so much warmer and more natural than those artificial lights could ever be. Andromeda had to be used to it, but it still must suck to have her grandson, her only surviving relative (Narcissa and Draco didn't count – if they were her only relatives, Ginny would pretend to be an orphan) snatched away at a first glance.

"It's OK, I'm used to it. I hated Remus for hiding at the school, but I understood why I wasn't welcome there." She walked across the room in an easygoing, nonthreatening way that Narcissa or Bellatrix could never have mastered if they'd tried, and sat down, cross-legged, next to Ginny. "Does Ana mean Nanna or Andromeda?" she asked again.

"We don't know," Ginny admitted. "We got stuck on mama." She turned her head away guiltily, glad that her long hair hid her face. "I'm not trying to replace your daughter," she said. "We just can't make him understand that I'm not him mum. I mean – not that I wouldn't be proud to be his mum – I just don't want him to not know her."

"Ginny, for all that I disapproved of my son-in-law's marriage to you, I never thought you would try to take my daughter's place. And as much as I never approved of his marriage to my daughter, or his remarriage so soon after her death, I do think it's good for him to have a mother-figure. You're good with him. A lot of step-parents aren't." In the magical world, where bloodlines and inheritances were so important, step-parents often viewed their step-children as a waste of space, using up parental affection that their own children could use, taking up resources that amounted to nothing as their own genes weren't being passed on.

"Teddy's the closest to a child I'll ever have," Ginny said softly. "I'm not about to waste the opportunity be being bitter that he's not mine. Remus didn't tell you?" she asked when this statement was clearly a surprise to Andromeda. "He won't take the risk when he can't be sure what he could be putting inside me."

"But – he had Teddy – "

She smiled sadly. "That's what everyone says. Yes, he had Teddy. And now that everything's turned out for the best, he's glad he's got Teddy. But he's got no idea _how_ he got Teddy. He honestly thought he was sterile, there's no known werewolves who had children. For all anyone knows, it could have been a massive stroke of good luck that he didn't put a monster inside her."

"I did think of that," Andromeda admitted. "I wanted her to get rid of it. We both did."

Silently, Ginny handed over Teddy. She couldn't fathom the guilt they both felt for having wanted Tonks to have an abortion – especially in light of the fact that Teddy was a wonderfully talented, highly intelligent, one-hundred-percent human, darling little boy. There was a long pause as Andromeda thought deeply. "I don't mind if he thinks of you as his mum," she said finally. "I never want him to forget that he has a mum who gave birth to him and loved him, albeit for a short time. I want him to have the aunts and uncles that he will with your family. But if your mum tries to usurp me as his grandma – so help me God – " Ginny laughed, thinking about what a spectacular Battle of the Grandmothers Andromeda vs Molly would be.

"Good thing her relationship with Charlie fizzled out," she said with a grin. Charlie and Tonks had briefly dated in seventh year, but it hadn't gone anywhere. And possibly that was a good thing. Molly might take to Teddy as her own grandson like she had taken to Harry and Hermione as her own children, but she would never presume to usurp Andromeda as Teddy's own flesh-and-blood in the way she might attempt to do were she Teddy's biological grandmother. "But it means a lot to me that you're OK with me being in his life."

"I'm sorry you can't have children of your own," Andromeda said. "And I'm sorry about what happened to you. But if you don't mind me saying, you don't seem to be worse off for it." Ginny blushed at that.

"He, um – "

"Is very good in bed, I gathered that much already," Andromeda said bluntly. "And I understand you two had some – er – communication problems. McGonagall may prefer I don't set food on the castle grounds, but that doesn't mean I'm not in communication with her. You really shouldn't try to make a werewolf jealous, you know," she said mildly. "But you seem to have worked things out. And maybe it's good for him to have someone who'll get angry right back. Dora mostly cried," she admitted.

"I didn't have his love to lose by getting angry at him, and by the time I did, I'd found getting angry at him was quite effective," she admitted with a grin. "I snapped at him in public once. We'd taken Teddy out and this waiter was flirting with me and said something to him about how wonderful it was to have his daughter and grandchild after all that had happened – well, you can imagine how well _that_ went down," she said, getting a rueful chuckle out of Andromeda. "He was all set to come home and I had a go at him for wanting to cancel our date. Scared him right into sitting back down."

Andromeda laughed at that. "Merlin, I would have liked to see that. He does love to feel sorry for himself, and Dora loved him too much to call him on it." There was a faint tone of approval in her voice, that Ginny Weasley and her temper and unwillingness to let a man treat her like crap – weather that man be brother, boyfriend or husband old enough to be her father – could be a good thing for Remus Lupin.

"For what it's worth, he did love her," Ginny said. "And he took her death really hard. I learnt petty quickly to knock before I entered his rooms when I walked in on him, he was sobbing hysterically. I think he would have killed himself if it hadn't been for Teddy. I _know_ he wished he'd have died in your daughter's place. He didn't want to marry me. He only got through our wedding night with a lust potion and fantasising about her." Ginny spoke this in a funny, flat way; no matter how much she had understood, no matter how strong her marriage was now, she would never quite forget the humiliation of that night.

"No woman should have to go through that on her wedding night," Andromeda said sympathetically.

"No man should have to take a woman to bed when he wants to be left alone with his grief," Ginny countered.

"Were you always this wise or did living with Remus do that?" Andromeda said.

Ginny smiled at that. "I have – _had_ – six older brothers," she reminded Andromeda. "I may have limited experience about men's sexuality, but I have plenty of understanding about _men_."

Andromeda gave her an inscrutable look that made Ginny feel uncomfortable. She hadn't approved of the marriage, and even now, it pained her to know that Lupin had remarried so shortly after her daughter's death, even under the circumstances. But Ginny's fierce pride and even fiercer temper seemed to be good for him, and there was no denying that a strong mother figure would do Teddy the world of good. If he had to remarry, he certainly could have done much worse, Andromeda thought.

* * *

"What did you say to Andromeda?" Lupin asked Ginny on the evening after the end of the full moon. "She all but approved of you as Teddy's mum."

"Really? She said that?" Ginny's eyes sparkled at the thought.

Lupin laughed ruefully. "Hardly. She's a Black, and her werewolf son-in-law remarried a girl young enough to be his daughter. Of course she didn't say that. But she was back with him on time and invited me in for a drink. She's usually late and shoos me out. What did you say to her?"

Ginny shrugged, not remembering anything in particular that they had talked about. "She's sad," she said. "I can't imagine what it's like to have lost what she has. It makes Fred pale in comparison. She needs to know that Teddy's being raised right. And I think she does. I think – well, maybe this is really presumptuous, but I think if she can't have Tonks alive, she's happy to have me in her stead."

He kissed her. "I'm glad. Listen, love, there's something we need to talk about. Have you given any thought to what you want to do next year?"

"Next year?" she parroted.

"Yeah. As in, the year after you finish school. Have you given any thought to it?"

"Not exactly," she said with a leery grin. "I've had other things to occupy my thoughts." She snaked her hand down to his crotch.

Reluctantly, Lupin removed it. "I'm serious, Gin. D'you remember what I said about how hard marriages are for Professors? I don't want to hanging around the castle twiddling your thumbs with nothing to do."

"You also said it's a bitch of a commute."

"It is," he agreed. "But I think you'd be happier commuting that having nothing to do around here. I think you'll be surprised at just how busy I am once you don't have your studies. What career options came up when you did your careers counselling in fifth year?"

"McGonagall said I'd be a good reporter," Ginny said. "And it sounded really interesting – I mean, not that rubbish that Skeeter cow writes, I'd rather write for _The Quibbler_ first – but then I started playing Quidditch and got to admiring Gwenneg Jones and – this all sounds really stupid, doesn't it? I had a crush on Harry the Hero and now I'm being a total fangirl over a sports star."

"I don't think it's stupid, I've seen you play," Lupin said encouragingly.

"No offense, but you don't know shit about Quidditch beyond 'anyone who chucks a beater at Ginny is bad'," Ginny teased.

"Well, I still think you should look into trying out," Lupin said. "Is there an age limit?"

"No... but I'm awfully young, Viktor Krum was eighteen – that's still a few months older than me – and he was one of the youngest ever pro players. And Gwenneg's forty-five. That's, like, older than you."

Lupin laughed at that. "There's something comforting in the fact that someone you admire so much is older than me," he admitted. "Gin, I want you to look into trying out."

"It will take me away from you a lot, with practices and matches," Ginny said.

"I'm aware of that. Gin, you'll be miserable if you have nothing to do here. I've already taken away your chance to have children. I won't take away your career as well. I want you to look into whatever you think will make you happy – and I don't want you to stop and think about me, OK?"

"But – but – Remus, I know what you're – er – appetite's like," Ginny protested.

"I can take something for it. I won't cheat on you, love. I'm as much yours as you are mine. But I want you to promise me that you'll look seriously into a career, and not hold yourself back because of me, OK?" Ginny nodded. She knew that Lupin was pushing her to have a career so she could channel all the passion she would have given to her children into her career. She didn't regret her marriage, wouldn't have taken it back if it meant a union with a human who could give her children, but at the same time, she couldn't quite banish the ache in her heart whenever she thought of the fact that the closest she would ever come to being a mother was step-mum to Teddy Lupin.


	15. Chapter 15

Neville and Harry were kicking back in a bar in Paris's magical community, the French equivalent of Hogsmead. "Something tells me you'd rather not be here," Harry said with a grin.

Neville smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," he said. "I don't see Luna as much as I would like. I almost agreed to tag along to her father's but a weekend of the both of them can do a man's head in."

Harry smiled. He was very fond of Luna, but there was no denying that the girl marched to her own beat. "It must be hard," he said sympathetically.

Neville shrugged. "I knew what I was getting into. It will be easier next year." He grinned. "Remus is actually _encouraging_ Ginny to look into a career. I certainly wouldn't be encouraging Luna to spend more time apart."

"They're doing OK?" Harry asked.

"Of course. He wants her to have a career and not be stuck at the castle twiddling her thumbs. I get why he's doing it, but it can't be easy. They've already had so much to deal with that it doesn't seem fair they'll have to spend so much time apart."

"But she's recovering?" Harry asked. He vaguely remembered Jeff Adams; he hadn't liked the man much, but certainly hadn't thought him capable of a brutal bashing and rape.

"I think so, from what Luna says. I'm hearing that they're all over these days, so maybe some good's come of it. Wherever Adams is, I hope he knows he's achieved the opposite of what he wanted to."

The two men enjoyed each other's company and whiled away another few hours before Harry suddenly bolted upright. "Hey – isn't that him?" he asked.

Neville looked around wildly. He couldn't be sure – but he trusted Harry to be. "I think so," he said tentatively.

"One way to be sure," Harry said. If they cornered Adams and took him to the Ministry in Paris and it turned out to be the wrong guy, well, no harm done. And if they had the right guy, then he could be handed over to the English Ministry...

The two men snuck up on Adams so he wouldn't cotton onto them. "Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled, disarming Adams.

With a swiftness and agility that was rare for him, Neville twisted Adams's wrists behind his back and brutally yanked down on them, causing the bones to break. Adams howled in pain. "Impressive," Harry said.

"Remus taught me. He won't be handling a wand anytime soon," Neville said. _Damn, that felt good_. "OK, you son-of-a-bitch, we're taking you to the Ministry here in Paris. If you're not who we think you are, you can go. If you are, they'll hand you over to the Ministry in London – and I hope _they_ hand you over to Lupin for what you did to his wife." Adams whimpered in terror at that, leaving Harry and Neville in no doubt that he was the one and only Jeff Adams.

* * *

Shrieking with delight, Ginny swooped down to retrieve the tennis ball that they'd enchanted to stand-in as a Snitch, winning the game she'd been playing with Ron, Charlie and George. "No fair," Ron grumbled. "You're team is way better."

"_You're_ the one who wanted to play with George," Charlie said. "How'd you manage to forget that we were both Captain?" Ron muttered something unintelligible at that.

"And I'm used to carrying a lot more weight," Ginny said smugly. "I feel far too light."

"That's because I trust your brothers far more than I trust Sarah Callahan, love," Lupin piped up. He patted his thigh and Ginny sat on his lap. "And you're the perfect weight for me."

"Yuk," George said, making a face. "I think I liked it better when you were yelling at one another."

"He's just jealous," Ginny said, twisting her neck to kiss her husband. They were in the backyard of The Burrow; Luna was spending the Hogsmead weekend with her father so Ginny and Lupin decided it was worth paying a visit to the Burrow. Not to stay over – Lupin was refusing to be put in the spare room and Ginny wouldn't stay if her husband wouldn't – but a visit felt appropriate. And so far, Molly seemed to be playing nice.

"Lunch is ready!" she called, and Charlie obligingly set the table with a wave of his wand. "Ginny, dear, do you think you can sit in your own chair?"

Lupin looked like he was about to say something, but from his pram, Teddy made his 'I'm hungry' cry. "OK, sit in your own chair," Lupin said, giving her a gentle nudge. He took his son and started feeding him; Teddy took to the bottle with an appreciative gurgle.

"You're good with him," Molly said with grudging approval.

Lupin chuckled. "You sound disappointed," he said. Molly had the decency to look embarrassed.

Lupin laughed good-naturedly. "I'm not offended. People have some funny ideas about single fathers. First day back of school Gin said something similar." His wife blushed guiltily, remembering. "But there's not many who can handle him as well as I can."

"He once went mental when – er – one of Remus's students touched him," Ginny recalled, referring to Jeff Adams. Lupin expertly reached over and squeezed her arm sympathetically. _Are you alright_? He asked.

_Fine._ _I won't let him get me down_.

Molly knew they were talking using Legilimency, just as she knew the student she was referring to was Jeff Adams. It was clear that she was still skittish over the attack, although McGonagall said she was a lot further along in her emotional recovery than she would have been without her husband's support. Not even she could deny that Lupin had a knack of making Ginny feel safe and sexy at the same time. They were deeply in sync with one another in a way that she had never been with Harry.

"How is she doing?" Molly asked her son-in-law later that afternoon. "She's getting better. She's fine around me, but sometimes I hear after the fact that she reacted badly when some guy touched her. The fidelity charm I put on her worked wonders – it's not on anymore, but it's put the fear of Merlin into people."

"Does anyone know where he is?"

Lupin clenched his fists to think of the man who had raped his wife. "No. I didn't try too hard – had my hands full with Gin and school – but if I ever get my hands on him..."

Molly shivered at the clear anger and violence in his voice. Something told her that he wouldn't react any more strongly had it been Teddy who had been hurt. "You really love her?" she asked. "This isn't just – "

"Just that someone violated my property?" Lupin asked. "No." He took a deep breath. "If she – if she wanted to be with someone else to have a baby, I'd deal with it. I'd hate it, but I could deal with it to give her a child. No, what Jeff did – he forced himself on her. He made her terrified of men. I don't hate him because he had sex with her. I hate him because of how badly he hurt her. I hate him because he forced something from her that should only ever have been hers to give freely – even to me."

"You really would have seen her with someone else?" Molly asked, a little scandalised and a little touched by this admission.

"I still would," Lupin said, and it was clear from the way his voice cracked that though he found the idea repulsive, he would turn a blind eye for her. Molly couldn't help but recall the same revulsion he had felt over sleeping with Ginny on their wedding night – which he had nonetheless gone through with because it was in Ginny's best interest. "She wants a baby, and I won't take the risk. It's only fair that she has another means, then."

Molly was quiet for a long time as she processed what Lupin was saying. "I was wrong about you," she finally admitted. "I thought you were just taking advantage of the fact you had a young wife. I didn't realise how good you are for her."

Lupin shrugged nonchalantly. "She's good for me, too," he said. "I loved Tonks and I always will but she let me get away with so much of my poor-me mantra. When I came back after Harry called me on my cowardice she took me back without a word of admonition."

"Ginny would have blasted you through to next week," Molly said, a small smile playing on her lips. No way would her daughter have taken a husband who ran from his duties lying down.

"I never feel more alive than when I'm engaged in a battle of wits with her," Lupin admitted. _Or when she's pushing back against me in bed_, he added silently. She wasn't afraid to use her strength, intelligence or backbone against him... and he loved it. "And I think she feels the same way about me."

Molly nodded. "I always felt that the hero-worship crush she had on Harry made for a really unequal relationship – more so than what you guys had, being her Professor. I see the way she is with you. She doesn't worship you – not in a hero way, anyway," she amended, because it was clear from the way Ginny looked at her husband that she adored him. "She needed that more than she needed someone who she worshipped."

"Can I take this as approval, Molly?" Lupin asked. Molly was saved from having to say anything when Ginny sauntered in. He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "I think your mum likes me," he whispered in her ear. "God, I love you so much."

"I love you, too." When he looked at her like that... "Why don't we go back to the castle? It's close to dinnertime anyway." Although the way she said it make it obvious that dinner wasn't on her mind...

... "Remus!" Ginny screamed. Her long hair tumbled down her back as she rode him furiously. She felt his nails rake the length of her bare back and then dig into her backside, his thumbs hooking around her hips to steady her. "Oh, God, Remus, I'm so close..." He moved his hands up the small of her back and pushed her down, kissing her passionately. He stroked her clitoris to an orgasm, then flipped her over so she was on her back, Moaning loudly, he thrust hard for another minute, kissing and biting her breasts as he pounded between her legs. She wrapped her legs around his waist the way he liked as he thrust hard again and climaxed inside her.

"You're amazing," he whispered huskily in her ear. He rolled off her and removed the condom. He nudged her side slightly, a motion for her to roll onto her stomach. "It's a good thing I know magic," he said with a chuckle, running his hand over the scratches along her back. "If we were muggles, people would think I was abusing you." He rolled her onto her back and started fixing the bite marks on her breasts, but got quickly distracted. "My God, you're so beautiful," he whispered, lowing his mouth to suck her nipple. She moaned as Lupin moved his hands down her body to that place that was still sensitive from his touch just a few minutes ago.

"Remus, I can't," she protested weakly as she always did when he was ready to go just a few minutes after finishing. He slid his hand between her legs and she obligingly spread them. "Oh, God," she cried as he kissed his way down and flicked his tongue between her legs. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and flung her legs over his back. She writhed and bucked against him and knew that he loved the feel of her legs pushing down on his back and he tended to her. "Remus!" she cried. "Oh, God – please – let me come – I need to come!" she screamed, her protests forgotten as he brought her to orgasm.

"You're such a soft touch, you know," he teased. "_Remus, I can't_," he mimicked her. She reached out to swat her playfully. He grabbed her wrist and drew her close to him, kissing her deeply. "Get on your hands and knees," he directed her. "God, I'm so horny," he said. "I've never been like this before," he said. She squirmed at the compliment. He'd told her that he got hornier around the full moon, but never like this. He felt more attracted to her with every passing day. She knew he wouldn't compare her with Tonks, and understood his reasons, but still got a kick out of knowing that he had never been so hot for his first wife. She got onto her hands and knees; she knew without being told that it was a position he preferred close to the full moon because of the base, animal nature of it. She was right when, after quickly putting on a condom, he grabbed her hips and plunged into her forcefully, his balls banging against her backside. He brought his fingers between her legs, bringing her to a quick orgasm while he finished himself off screaming her name.

He was soaked in sweat when he settled himself on his stomach next to her. "You're addictive, you know that," he breathed huskily. The smell of sex and sweat mingled in the air, a heady aphrodisiac. He started to rub her back, her sweaty skin providing a natural lubricant. Ginny sighed happily, passively enjoying her husband's ministrations as he prepared them both for another round...

... There was a knock on the door. "Remus? I have some important news for you." It was McGonagall. Groaning with disappointment – he could happily have spent the rest of the night holed up with Ginny – he rolled onto his back and got up, reaching for his robe. McGonagall wouldn't have come here if it wasn't important; she knew better than to interrupt newlyweds who were seriously hot for one another. He padded towards the front door, closing the bedroom door behind him.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I just got an owl from Kingsley Shaklebolt," McGonagall said, taking in his dishevelled appearance and the way his robe stuck to his sweaty skin. She wasn't sure if the relationships she'd interrupted would make him more or less receptive to the news she had brought. "You might want to have a shower. It's Jeff Adams. Neville and Harry found him in Paris and have brought him back to London."

* * *

The stench of urine hit Lupin as soon as he entered the small, windowless room that they'd put Adams in. He'd wet himself and no-one had afforded him the dignity of being cleaned up. Lupin made a face as his supernatural smell kicked in; you didn't even need the urine to smell that he was scared witless. He scowled and felt a stab of vicious pleasure that the young man was clearly terrified. _Terrified like you made my _wife_, he thought. _ He noticed that Adams's wrists were at funny angles.

"Mr. Longbottom broke them in his, er, enthusiasm," Kingsley said laconically. "We haven't managed to get a Healer in yet." Which was code for '_we didn't deem it necessary to relieve his pain_'. With every minute that passed, Adams was discovering the consequences of raping the wife of a man who had been so integral to the Victory. "His wand has already been destroyed."

Lupin eyed Adams coldly; Adams cowered under Lupin's gaze. "Please..." he begged.

"_Please_?" Lupin asked him incredulously. "Did you listen to my wife when she said _please_? Oh, that's right, you put a silencing spell on her," he said. He turned to Kingsley. "What's going to happen to him?" he asked.

"That's up to you. You have the right to challenge him to a duel," Kingsley said. Adams gasped at that; no way would a wizard who was still a student be a match for an excellent DADA Professor. "Or you can forfeit your desire for justice to her next-of-kin after you... say, your mother-in-law." Adams looked terrified at that; particularly at the look on Lupin's face when he realised this.

Finally he said. "Hold out your hands." Adams looked terrified. "Hold our your goddamn hands or I'll hand you over to Molly – and believe me, you don't want that. I just want to make sure you can never do it again. She'll kill you – long after making you wish she would."

"He's right," Kingsley said in his deep, rich voice. "I'd take Remus over Molly anyway."

Shaking with fear and pain, Adams held out his broken wrists. With a wave of his wand, Lupin recited to incantation for a Dark Spell that he had learnt a long time ago, although had never thought he'd need to use. Adams howled in agony as the tendons in his wrists were flashed using Dark Magic that meant they would never fully heal. "I'm sorry, Jeff," Lupin said mildly, and the younger man looked at him in shock. "I clearly wasn't a very good DADA teacher if I didn't teach you not to fuck with a werewolf's wife. Now get him the fuck out of my sight," Lupin said to Kingsley. "Before I add to his list of wrongdoings interrupting a werewolf's relationships with his wife." He said the words slowly and clearly so the last thing Adams would remember was their bedroom relations.

* * *

Lupin crawled into bed a few hours later, feeling emotionally drained and curled up to his wife, spooning her. He had expected Ginny to be asleep – but then, he supposed were the situations reversed, he wouldn't be asleep, either. "What happened?" she asked drowsily.

"I slashed his wrists. He'll learn how to hold a fork eventually but that will be about as strong as his wrists will ever be again. He'll never be able to hold anyone down again, or have the dexterity to use a wand. And he'll be in pain for the rest of his life."

"Good," Ginny said viciously, suddenly awake. "I hope he thinks about us every waking movement. I hope he never sleeps."

He kissed the back of her head. "I feel dirty," he admitted. "I wouldn't have done it for anyone but you. I've never hurt someone before just to cause them pain. And then I think about what he did to you..." He shuddered and squeezed her tightly. "He will never hurt anyone again. He will be an outcast in our community. And he'll spend the rest of his life knowing that whatever he thought he would achieve to drive us apart, he failed miserably at it." He reached for her left hand with his, threading his fingers through hers, clinking his wedding ring against hers. "We're going to be alright, you know – despite what's happened." "I know," she said, and she pulled his arm around her waist so she was tightly and securely in his embrace.

* * *

"Good," Molly said when Lupin told her what he had done. "I hope he suffers."

"He will."

"You didn't like doing it much, did you?" she asked. Lupin shook his head. "People think I enjoyed killing Bellatrix. I didn't – but I was glad I did, because so many would have died if I hadn't – including my child and yours. The difference is we both did it to stop them hurting anyone else. Bellatrix enjoyed what she did... and I think so did Adams. You – you don't know how to – enjoy – hurting someone." She spoke these words haltingly, grudgingly. Then, as if figuring that she had gone this far so she may as well further, she admitted, "I caught up with Andromeda. She said that – she didn't approve of your marriage but – she never doubted your integrity. She never thought you could hurt Tonks."

"At least not physically," Lupin agreed. Them, "I was a coward. I hurt her emotionally. I let the talk get me down and I scared myself sick over Teddy."

"Ginny's good for you like that," Molly said. "She was good for Ron and Harry, too. No-one got to feel sorry for themselves around her. Merlin, remember when Harry though Voldermort was possessing him?"

Lupin laughed at that. "I heard about it second-hand, but... I can see her doing something like that. She's good for me. She doesn't let me get away with much. She means more to me than I can say."

"I know she does. Remus?" Molly asked tentatively. Lupin nodded his assent for her to continue. "I appreciate what you're doing with the contraception. I know that you have every right not to use it – I know that's you're right – I know you're skirting the edge of the law using it – and I just wanted you to know that I appreciate it."

"I don't understand why it's such a big deal. I can't expose her to that kind of thing. Just because I have those rights doesn't mean I'm going to exert them. She has a right over her own body – even if she doesn't realise it. And I believed that long before Ted put the ideas in my head... he just helped me articulate that."

"Do you know what the odds are?" Molly asked, meaning those of giving her daughter a human child.

Lupin shook his head. "I don't. It could be that there's no chance of me putting a monster in her – but it could also be that there's _every_ chance. So I won't take the chance."

"Do you ever think – " "That I'm not Teddy's dad?" Lupin asked. Molly nodded guiltily. "No. I honestly believed that I was sterile, or I would have been more careful. I never for a second thought that she cheated on me. I think that's why I got so scared. If she'd gotten pregnant to someone else I would have been relieved. I worried myself sick thinking about what Teddy might be. But I never worried that he wasn't mine. Besides," he added with a weak smile. "He has my eyes."

"Ginny's got green eyes, too," Molly said wistfully, thinking that that almost guaranteed any children Ginny and her husband would have had would have green eyes.

"A green-eyed redhead," Lupin agreed. It did neither of them good to think about what could be were it not for Lupin's condition, but it was so easy, especially when their thoughts were falling in the same lines. "Who would we have called – "

"Fred," Lupin chorused with her. It was good to be on such friendly terms with Molly, but sad at the same time, because they both dearly wanted something that couldn't happen.

* * *

Ginny intently inspected the small silvery-blue package made of a material she'd never seen before. She tore at it tentatively and removed the rubbery contraceptive from it. Lupin had tried to explain how it worked, but she still didn't get it. To her, it should be able to expand and shrink according to his state of arousal rather than needing to stop before he penetrated her. But she got the basic principle of it. The thin rubbery material – Lupin had told her what it was called, lay something, a muggle invention – was designed to trap his seed rather than spilling it into her. She held it up to the light. It seemed pretty thin; something she discovered when she handled it a little too roughly and tore it with her nail. She wondered how much it would take to sabotage it; could she tear a small enough hole for his seed to escape without him realising what she'd done?

She unpinned her Head Girl badge from her robes and, taking out a fresh packet, stabbed the pin through it. She held it up to the light. The hole was tiny enough that it was barely noticeable, and she knew what she was looking for. Her husband was therefor unlikely to realise what she'd done. But was it enough to get her pregnant? He couldn't do anything about it once she was pregnant – he might rage, he might beg her to have an abortion, but he wouldn't knock her unconscious and force the procedure on her. And the way she saw it, since she was willing to take on the risk, she was entitled to do this. But what was the balance between sabotaging it little enough that Lupin wouldn't realise what she'd done and significantly enough that it would get her pregnant?

"What are you doing?" Luna asked from the doorway, startling Ginny enough that she dropped by condom package and Head Girl pin on the floor.

"Just studying Remus's contraception," Ginny said. "It's a muggle thing and I don't understand how it works."

Luna looked at her suspiciously, and Ginny got the feeling she didn't believe a word she had said. Luna had a habit of being deceptively intuitive. "You want to go for a walk?" she asked. "If I have to spend one more minute with Sarah, I'll scream."

* * *

"Anything up, Loon? You seem not-quite with it, More so than usual, I mean," Neville Longbottom said. He was used to Luna always being slightly off-with-the-fairies, as if there was something far more interesting going on in her head than whatever was occupying her physical world. It was, in fact, one of the things he liked about her. She was unfettered in her thoughts, however unusual they might be, and you could always rely on her to say exactly what was on her mind. She was intelligent, sweet and loyal. So it really wasn't surprising that he had started to fall for her after they had started spending a lot of time with each other three years ago as members of Dumbledore's Army.

"Nothing you can help me with," Luna said. "I don't even know if I'm right." She turned on her side, facing away from him, which was a very un-Luna thing to do, who could curl up against him for hours. Come to think of it, so was saying something like _I don't even know if I'm right_. Luna was often unerringly intuitive when it came to the thoughts and actions of human beings, and not afraid to give her opinions. And here she was, telling the person she was closest to after her father – and perhaps maybe Ginny – that _she didn't even know if she was right_.

He spooned her, throwing his leg over hers. "Try me," he said, nibbling on her ear tenderly. He'd learnt a lot about tenderness and grace with Luna, who didn't even mind when he occasionally stepped on her feet or overbalanced and fell on top of her.

"I think Ginny's sabotaging Professor Lupin's birth control," Luna blurted out.

"Birth control's a class-two restriction," Neville said absently. While not outright illegal, there was no ministry funding for it and no official guidelines, which meant products that were highly unreliable and often counter-productive, which in turn discouraged people from trying (or at least, it was supposed to). And Hogwarts Professors were _definitely_ discouraged from using them.

"I think he gets exemptions, and I think it's a muggle contraception," Luna said.

"Ah, condoms," Neville said.

"Sorry?"

"Small package, kind of a metallic hue?" Neville asked. Luna nodded. "It's a rather crude muggle barrier protection – I _do_ listen to Hermione once in a while," he said when Luna looked surprised that he knew what she was talking about. "I suppose I shouldn't be calling it crude. Hermione says it's a hell of a lot more reliable than anything we've come up with. It's just that from what I understand, it only takes a few pinpricks to sabotage it."

"Like the pin of a Head Girl badge?" Luna asked.

"Yep."

"Well – that's what she was doing when I interrupted her. She had her badge out and – Neville, why are you so calm? Professor Lupin's got good reason to not want children. What if he puts something in her that kills her? How can you just lie there and be so calm?" She flipped around to face him and pounded his chest with her fists in an ineffectual assault that released some of her concern over Ginny's actions.

Neville wrapped his arms around her and ran his lips through her hair. "Look, I don't understand it much myself, it's all to do with stuff Hermione's been doing with magic and muggle science and you know what I'm like when she starts up on that stuff, I'm lucky if I remember one word in ten – kind of like everyone else when I start up on Herbology," he added. "But I don't think Ginny's got anything to worry about. Look, we'll be at Hogwarts the week after next and she can explain it to them, alright?" he asked.

She nodded. He tilted her head back so he kissed her.

* * *

"You're doing it wrong."

"How can you possibly know?"

"I can feel it. It's not tight enough." Lupin was attempting to learn how to braid hair and, according to Ginny, doing a terrible job of it.

"I can stop if you like." He pulled his hands away from her and placed them on the couch like an obedient schoolboy.

"Hey! Don't you dare!" Ginny didn't care if he did a thousand clumsy braids, the simple feel of the fingers running through her hair was pleasure enough. Obligingly, Lupin took the comb and combed out his clumsy braid. Purring, Ginny leaned back against him and Lupin abandoned her hair to run her shoulders. She didn't help matters when she wore these strappy little singlets as the weather grew warmer and that bare expanse of skin was too much temptation for him and he ran his lips across her shoulder. "Remus," she whimpered. She twisted her neck so she could kiss him, and without either of them knowing exactly how it had happened – as happened a lot with them – he had manoeuvred her onto her back on the couch and they were making out when all he'd intended was to learn how to braid her hair while they were waiting for Neville and Hermione...

"You know, I was under the impression that if we _told_ you we were coming, we wouldn't be subjected to watching you two behave like a couple of horny teenagers," came Neville's voice from the door. Lupin scrambled to his feet in a very undignified fashion, feeling that Neville was the paternal figure here and he a busted schoolboy.

"Sorry, got carried away," he mumbled.

"Heard that happens a lot," Neville said. "At least you don't have to give out detentions." Lupin felt the urge to poke his tongue out at Neville – although his threat to force his students to witnessed his and Ginny's affection for one another if they forced him to hand out detentions _had_ been mighty effective. And whatever the hell had happened to the Neville Longbottom who had been painfully shy and insecure and wouldn't have dared tease Lupin like an equal. Which, Lupin supposed, was going to be true soon enough.

"Hermione!" Ginny cried, delighted to see her old friend. She ran up to hug her and when the two women were done embracing, she turned to Neville.

Neville stepped back. Lupin's reputation as a zealous, territorial husband preceded him. "I'm alright," he said, sounding a little like his former nervous, stuttering self.

"Oh, don't be silly, I made Remus cancel the spell," Ginny said airily, and hugged Neville tightly. Neville noticed Lupin looked away slightly and clenched his fists. He patted Ginny slightly on the back and pulled away. "What brings you here, anyway?" Ginny asked. "Luna said it was something about a job."

Neville's face broke into a wide beam that was very much reminiscent of the schoolboy he had been when he had particularly excelled himself in a strong subject. "I'm going to be an apprentice to Sprout," he said. "Starting next year. And Hermione's going to be taking Muggle Studies."

"Good," Lupin said. "After Burbage we thought the position would never be filled." Having a Professor killed and eaten by a snake for her beliefs tended to make prospective employees shy away from the position, even after Voldermort and most of his Death Eaters had been vanquished. "I thought you were offered the position for this year?" he asked Neville. "We could have used you."

"Didn't want to teach Luna," he said frankly. "Can't imagine trying to exert authority over her during the day and at night – honestly, Remus, I don't know how you do it."

"Badly, from what I hear," Hermione piped up. Lupin sent her a filthy look. "Sorry, Remus, but Neville's right – you have a reputation for acting like a couple of horny teenagers. Seems to be suiting you both, though." She had to admit, as much as she loved Harry like a brother, he had never made Ginny glow like that. And something told her the other bit of news they came bearing would make her glow even more. She nudged Neville.

"Ginny," he said. "I wanted to get something from Professor Sprout. Care to join me?" Looking a little confused, Ginny nodded and followed Neville out the door of the rooms she shared with her husband and towards the main doors that led out to the greenhouses where Professor Sprout spent most of her time. "Sorry that I pushed you away before," he said. "He makes me feel uncomfortable."

"He does that. He gets that he can't forbid me from touching other men every again but that doesn't mean he likes it. He's – "

"A werewolf, Gin, I get it. They're quite territorial. I don't mind, I just don't feel comfortable hugging you around him." And to prove it, he snaked his arm around her waist in a strictly brotherly fashion like he had often done before. "How's married life been treating you?" he asked.

"Good," she said vaguely.

"That all? I hear the entire school is sick of seeing you two snog each other and can't wait until you go off and do something else with your spare time other than sit in his lap that day." Ginny blushed furiously at that.

"I– do not – sit in his lap all day! And how do you find out all this stuff, anyway? Luna wouldn't be so crass."

"Not Luna, no. Plenty of DA members, though."

"I don't see what's so interesting about my marriage," Ginny said huffily.

"You mean _apart_ from the fact you had a crush on Harry for six years and he'd been widowed a few months before? _Apart_ from the fact you're in the running for the most disgustingly affectionate couple in the history of Hogwarts? _Apart_ from a couple of seriously public spats? Really, Gin, I don't understand why _you_ don't understand. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. I asked you if you're happy."

"Yeah, I am," she said shyly. "Neville, I never would have thought – I mean, he was my _Professor_. Merlin, he still _is_. I never wanted to be married to him and he knew that and gave me my space and instead of a husband I had a friend who was everything I could have asked for and things just kind of... happened."

"I figured it happened that way," Neville said. "He's a good man. I can see why you fell for him the way you did."

"I can't imagine myself being with anyone else now. Not even Harry."

"And yet you're sabotaging his birth control. Or at least trying to. Yes, Luna _did_ tell me that," Neville said. "She's really worried about you, Gin. Remus has good reason to choose not to have children."

"He had Teddy. And it's my choice, too."

"That's not the point, Gin. He said no and you went an underhanded way about defying him. You're just lucky that it doesn't actually matter."

Needless to say, Ginny looked confused. "What do you mean – it doesn't matter?"...

... "I've been doing all this study in genetics – it's a branch of muggle science that – "

"Hermione, I know what genetics is. Lily Evans was my best friend and Ted Tonks my father-in-law. I could probably have rivalled Burbage in Muggle Studies."

"Sorry, it's just that most magical-borns don't have a clue about muggle stuff," Hermione apologised. "Anyway, I've been doing all this study into genetics, applying it to what we know about half-breeds. Y'know genetically most of what we refer to as half-breeds aren't actually half-breeds, they're their own breed? Trolls, merpeople, giants – some of them are close enough to humans genetically that they can mate, like horses and donkeys, but it usually creates a sterile sub-breed." Hermione started prattling on about her research and Lupin gave her an impatient look. "Sorry. What I was getting at is that werewolves are one of the few half-breeds that _are_ actually half-breeds, two lots of DNA from two separate breeds rather than one unique DNA. And the wolf side is completely incompatible to the human side."

"So?" Lupin asked. He had started to tune out when he'd heard 'genetics'. He got the basic principles, but like most magical-borns, the details bored him to tears. Hermione reached out and slapped him lightly with all the casual familiarity of a colleague.

"Remus! What do you mean _so_? Don't you get it? Wolf DNA. Human DNA. In-com-pat-i-ble."...

... "He couldn't give you a werewolf child if he – er – took you when he was transformed," Neville said, deciding not to mention that Hermione had an academic interest as to what would happen if he were to mate with another werewolf during transformation. "I don't understand much of the genetics of it but his wolf side is too incompatible with your being human to make a baby. Half of him – the dangerous half – is effectively sterile. There was never any danger of Teddy being anything other than human and there's no danger of you having anything but a human child."

Ginny's eyes went wide as she processed this information. Then she burst into tears...

... Lupin sank into the couch, feeling dizzy. "I can't put anything dangerous in her?" he asked numbly.

Hermione shook her head. "You never could. I mean, I have an academic interest in what you could do with another werewolf, but you can't do anything to a human. That side of you is too far removed genetically from them. Half of you – the dangerous half – is effectively shooting blanks. The other half is perfectly capable of fathering children... which I think you've already proven. Tell me, Remus," she said sweetly, taking full advantage of the fact that, now they were practically colleagues, she could ask him questions more appropriate to equals than a professor and his student. "Did you consummate your relationship with Tonks _before_ you were married, or was he a honeymoon conception? Because if he was a honeymoon conception, well, clearly you're doing fine running at half-capacity," she teased.

"I'm not answering that," Lupin said, blushing and feeling like _he_ was the teenager and Hermione the seasoned adult. He brought his legs up against his chest and wrapped his arm around them, propping his head up on his knees and looking very much like a bewildered teenager. It struck him that he had abandoned Tonks out of fear for what their child would be when he had never had anything to worry about. Some distant part of him wished he could have that time with her again, even if it still ended with her death, knowing that there was nothing to fear. And a bigger part realised that he could have the family with Ginny that they both wanted. "Where'd Neville take Ginny?" he demanded.

"I wouldn't go looking for her," Hermione said. "He knows her pretty well. If anyone can break this to her gently, he can."

Lupin stared at Hermione for a few seconds, cottoning on to what the two of them had planned. "You divided-and-conquered us," he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. She'd heard plenty about how Lupin and Ginny, two otherwise very compatible people, could quickly get their wires crossed when it came to something big. "And leave it up to you two to sort out something this monumental? Damn straight."...

... Neville patted Ginny awkwardly on the back as she sobbed into his shoulder. Hermione had warned him she might not react the way he'd thought she would. "She's had to resign herself to the fact she's not going to have children, and of course she'll feel like she's lost something huge and that she can't talk about to the one person she _ought_ to – Remus," Hermione had explained matter-of-factly. "She'll have all these repressed feelings to let out before she can even think about what it means."

After a full ten minutes Ginny withdrew from Neville's shoulder. "Sorry," she sniffled. "You'd think I'd be happy."

"The thought did cross my mind, yes. Hermione said you'd have some difficulty accepting it."

She drew her legs against her chest and proper her chin against her knees. "I couldn't tell Remus how upset I was about not being able to have children," she admitted. "I knew how bad he felt about it. You know – he said something to be once – he was bitten when he was eight, and who the hell thinks about having kids when you're eight? But that was something he suddenly had to come to terms with so when he found out about Tonks and Teddy, he was overloaded. I knew when I married him we wouldn't have kids. I was seventeen and had never seriously thought about it until I had to marry him and a non-negotiable condition was not having children and then it was all that I could think about. And now you're telling me that it was never a concern. I can't – this big part of me is scared to believe it in case you've got it wrong."

He patted her hand awkwardly. Face it, after Lupin's stunt with Dennis Creavey, not to mention the way he had looked when they had hugged before, he was never going to be comfortable with physical contact with Ginny. "We wouldn't be telling you if there was any chance Hermione had got it wrong," he said gently, thoughtfully. "He can't pass his werewolf genes onto a full-human."

Ginny started to cry again. "I'm such a sook," she said, and that thought crossed Neville's mind as well – maybe it was the six-older-brothers thing, but Ginny wasn't much of a crier. In fact, the only other time he could remember Ginny crying before now was when Dumbledore had died, and that didn't count, because they had _all_ cried. "I really _am_ happy this time." Her eyes went wide as she realised what Neville's news meant. "I've got to get back to him," she said.

"Wait a sec. I really did want you to come with me to see Sprout. There's a couple of plants which have amazing fertility properties. They work as well as a lot of complicated potions but without the hangover effects," Neville said. Ginny laughed. Neville's passion for Herbology and fear of Professor Snape had made him quite cynical as to the all-encompassing powers of complicated potions...

... "Ginny!" Lupin cried when Neville returned with his wife what felt like hours later. He bit his tongue to curtain the urge to demand where she had been. "You've been crying," he noted. "It's OK," she said. She threw herself into his arms and flung her arms around his neck. "Everything's going to be OK." Over Ginny's shoulder, Lupin gave Neville and Hermione a pointed look. Getting it immediately, they left the rooms. The second they were alone, Lupin grabbed a fistful of Ginny's hair and used it to yank her head back, kissing her passionately. "Just so we're clear," he panted between kisses as he clawed at her shirt, "I'm not going to use a condom."

"I want your baby, Remus," she cried. She managed to unbutton his shirt and dug her fingers into his back while she planted frantic kisses over his neck and shoulder.

"It might happen straight away," he warned her weakly. "You could be pregnant before you've finished your exams."

She pushed him down onto the couch and unzipped his pants, pulling them and his y-fronts down in one fluid motion so he was completely naked. His erection sprang free. "I want your baby, Remus," she repeated. "I'd be happy if I got pregnant tomorrow, tonight." Happy with that response, Lupin ran his hands up her legs, pushing her skirt up to her waist, then pulled down her panties. She straddled him and he fingered her briefly to ensure her wetness then grabbing her hips, plunged her down onto his manhood. He gasped at the feeling. They'd had sex dozens of time before, but never spurred on by the desire to make a baby as much as their desire for one another. She rode him hard as he stroked between her legs. Arching backwards, she screamed as she climaxed. "Remus!" she gasped, still riding him hard. "Come inside me!" Grunting, Lupin rammed her down onto him and, with a drawn-out groan, spilled himself inside her in a hot, powerful stream. He dug his fingers into her hips and held her tightly down on him as if it ensure that ever drop got spent inside her. Panting, he buried his face in her shoulder.

"I've never come like that before," he said huskily.

"Tired out, are we?" she teased. He raised his head and kissed her passionately.

"For you? I have at least another four rounds left in me." He was as good as his word. In the early hours of the morning they cuddled up together, their sweaty, sex-soaked bodies fused together. "What's the average age for a professional Quidditch player?" he asked.

"Twenty-five or six," she said drowsily. "I've already thought of that. I'm only seventeen now. I can take a few years off and pursue a career after that."

"You sure you don't want to have a career first?" he pressed.

"No because one, a career in Quidditch can last a long time, past child-bearing age, and two – ever since you told me you didn't want any more kids it's what I've wanted more than anything. Remus, I know I'm only seventeen and I know for a lot of people that's incredibly young to have children, but – I don't _feel_ seventeen most of the time. And maybe because I _couldn't_ have it was a bad reason to want something to start off with, but ever since you told me you wouldn't have any more kids, it's all I've wanted. Postponing a career that I might not even achieve that I'm unlikely to be accepted into at my age isn't exactly a bad trade."

He smiled at her. "I was hoping you would say that," he admitted. "But I didn't want you to feel pressured to do anything." He kissed her chastely, actually having managed to exhaust himself, and drifted off to sleep with his wife in his arms.


	16. Chapter 16

_Hey, guys! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Obviously this is the end of the fic, though I have a few that I'm working on atm, including another G/L one. _

**Epilogue **

_Christmas 1999. _

"More eggnog, dear?" Molly asked, hovering around Ginny anxiously, wishing there was more she could do for her daughter, but Lupin rarely let her more than a meter out of his reach.

"Thanks, mum." Ginny took the mug out of her mother's hands.

"You haven't put any firewhisky in it, have you?" Lupin asked suspiciously, because Molly's firewhisky-laced eggnog was legendary. Molly gave him a look that was simultaneously offended and disbelieving. "You don't have to look at me like that. Just because you never heard that expectant mothers should drink."

Molly yawned dismissively, resembling her daughter-in-law Fleur greatly when she did it. "If I hear one more thing about Ted Tonks and his crackpot muggle theories, I'll dig up his grave and have a word with him myself," she said.

"Hey! Those 'crackpot muggle theories' mean that both your married children can have children themselves," Hermione protested good-naturedly. She knew that no matter how helpful elements of muggle sciences could be when couples with magical know-how, some people, even those with the best of intentions like Molly, would never take to them. It was part of what she enjoyed about teaching Muggle Studies, opening her student's minds to the possibility that muggles had things that they could teach them.

"She's got you there, mum," Bill agreed. He, too, had been apprehensive about being a father being of the unknown factor of his werewolf status. And he, too, had almost fallen asleep listen to Hermione's explanation as to genetics – but he'd been awake for the part about not being able to have anything but human children.

Hermione flashed him a grateful smile. Lupin possessively wrapped his arms around his wife's swollen stomach, his hands moulding around the curve of her belly. He couldn't help but think how different this pregnancy was to Tonks with Teddy. The knowledge that this baby would be nothing but human gave him a sense of peace that he hadn't known with Teddy – not to mention the knowledge that he would be bringing up his children in a safe, peaceful environment free from the evils of Voldermort.

He kissed her neck and rubbed her cheek with his. It had been a blissful six months. Two months of summer holidays spent travelling around Europe before returning to Hogwarts with his pregnant wife. It had been all he could do to wrench himself from her side and teach. And with Neville and Hermione teaching now, she was far from lonely. They had been married for a year now, and living truly as husband and wife for over half of that. Molly and Arthur hadn't been happy to learn that their relationship had become real but when they had seen how happy he made her – not to mention the relief of learning there was no danger of putting something wild inside her – they had gradually come around to accept him as something in between a son and son-in-law. He had excellent relationships with his brothers-in-law, even Percy, who was still struggling to cast off the indoctrination that the Ministry of Magic had been touting for several years while he'd been working there. And he was proving to be a very popular Professor, with people caring less and less about his werewolf status.

There was a knock on the door, and Molly went to get it. A few seconds later, she poked her head around the door of the spacious family room. "Remus, Ginny, can I see you?" she asked. Lupin got to his feet and helped Ginny to hers. "Andromeda's here to drop Teddy off. I wanted to invite her to stay – she's got no other family – but I wanted it to be OK by you. I thought it would sound better coming from you, anyway." Lupin exchanged a glance with his wife. They had become so in sync with one another that he rarely needed to use Legilimency on her. She nodded slightly.

But before they could say anything to Andromeda, she quickly walked over and gave Ginny a brief kiss on the cheek. "Congratulations," she said. "You look radiant." Ginny squired at the well-wishes, unsure of what she was supposed to say to this regal, strong-willed woman whose daughter had once been her husband's wife.

"Thankyou, that means a lot to us," Lupin said in her stead, sensing his wife's discomfort. "Do you care for some eggnog? There are already fourteen of us here, one more won't make a difference."

"Fourteen?" Andromeda said, a little breathless at the thought of so many people crammed into the house. She had grown up in a house with just two sisters, and then just her husband and then their daughter. She couldn't fathom fourteen people running around.

"Eight Weasleys, two in-laws – me and Fleur – Neville, Luna, Harry and Hermione," Lupin said. "Actually, fifteen with Teddy. No-one will take offense if that many people is simply too much for you, but you really are welcome to stay."

He seemed keen to be on good terms with her, and Andromeda had nothing but an empty house to go back to – no way was she spending time with the Malfoys, her only remaining relatives other than Teddy. She allowed Lupin to escort her through to the main living area where everyone was assembled. "I could have sworn this place is bigger than it used to be," she said. Which was odd, because everyone was so much bigger than when she had last seen them all at the Burrow, so really, the house should look smaller, not bigger.

"It is," Charlie piped up with a grin. "Mum had this idea that she was going to put Gin and Fleur in together and Bill and Remus in with me. Remus informed her that it was an excellent way to save space because he'd rather spend Christmas with Ginny is his dingy little apartment then have his marriage disrespected." There were grins from Percy, Ron and George at this, and Andromeda got the distinct impression that it had taken one hell of a screaming match before Lupin had gotten the upper hand. "So now we have another story up top, their bedroom, Bill and Fleur's and a nursery."

Andromeda took note of the fact that Lupin and Ginny were settled back on the floor, one of his hands on her waist, the other playing with her hair. Teddy awkwardly tottered over to them and wrapped his little arms around Ginny's stomach. "Buva!" he cried happily. Ginny mussed his hair. He had an understanding way beyond that of an eighteen-month-old that his little brother was growing inside her. Andromeda took note of the way she stretched out her legs so Teddy could curl up across them. Any worry she had had that Ginny would favour her biological children over her step-son were obliterated then; it was clear that she was as devoted to him as if he were her own flesh-and-blood. For an eighteen-year-old, she was remarkably compassionate and wise... perhaps wiser than her own daughter had been, Andromeda thought, because in her love for him, Tonks had been submissive and grateful for anything he gave her... whereas Ginny no doubt gave him hell whenever he tried his 'too old, too poor, too dangerous' crap on her. And it appeared to have worked well on her, if the way he was holding her and looking completely content was anything to go by.

She found herself relaxing, surrounded by a happy family, albeit one which bickered a lot, and found herself drinking far too much firewhisky. "You can't Appirate home, you're likely to splinch yourself," Molly protested when Andromeda went to go home. "You can have Ginny's old room. It's – "

"I'll show her where it is," Lupin offered, eager to talk to his – first? former? – mother-in-law alone. "Gin, I'll see you upstairs, OK?" Ginny nodded and took Andromeda's arm lightly to direct her to the cupboard that had once been Ginny's room. "Thankyou for being so supportive," he said quietly.

"She's a sweet, wise girl – woman – who's very good for you," Andromeda said. "Better, I think, than what Dora was. But she doesn't let you get away with much."

Lupin chuckled at that. "Very true," he said.

"I loved Dora – still love her – always will – but when it came to you, she just wasn't strong. She was so scared to get you offside that she would have accepted almost any treatment from you so long as it meant you were there." _And even that didn't always work, they both thought. _

"I wasn't a very good husband to her," he admitted. "I wish I had known then what I know now."

"And yet – when you came back – I used to watch you when you thought no-one was looking. You were terrified but you never showed that to anyone, least of all her. She never knew how many doubts you had. And she died knowing she loved her. You may have stepped up to the plate very late in the game, but you did everything right by her that you could have in the end, and I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful that she didn't die feeling abandoned. And if it's worth anything to you, I think she would approve of Ginny. It's obvious that she won't make any difference between Teddy and her own children."

"That means a lot to me." He hugged Andromeda and felt like he understood her better than he ever had before. While she would never see Ginny as an equal substitute for Tonks, she at least accepted her as a worthy replacement as mother – and wife. He made his way up to the top floor where his and Ginny's newly-built room was. She had already changed and was sitting up in bed. He slipped in beside her, manoeuvring her onto her side so he could spoon her. Since he preferred to lie on his side, and it was the only way he could cuddle her in her condition, it had worked out well. "Everything OK?" she asked.

He nuzzled her neck. How did she manage to become more lovely each day? "Everything's perfect," he murmured. A lot of things he had done, were he given the opportunity, he would have done again, in the way he had treated both Tonks and Ginny. But he was here now, however reluctant he might have been to get here, and he was far happier than he had ever even dared imagine being. "Everything's just perfect."


End file.
